Wonder Pies founder Raymond Capaldi opens new factory at The Newlands Quarter in Coburg North

A star Melbourne chef turned pie maker has found a new home for his beloved business inside a new Coburg North foodie hub.

Change is as good as a holiday, but it’s also done wonders for Ray Capaldi’s creativity.

The Melbourne chef behind gourmet pie brand Wonder Pies and partner Jodi Crocker are relocating their business to a new home base in Coburg North this month.

The flashy new digs will have a new product development kitchen, ground-floor cafe and 100 seater function room upstairs with a mezzanine overlooking the manufacturing area.

This space will host ‘chef’s table’ dinner and lunch series, seminars and industry workshops, with a media hub, including a podcast studio, also on site.

“We outgrew the old factory so quickly and we didn’t expect the business to grow as quickly as we did,” Capaldi said.

Wonder Pies general manager Alex Duffy, with chef Ray Capaldi and Jodi Crocker.

“After being caught up with (two years of) Covid, we want to make sure there is more product development at Wonder Pies.”

Not only will the new space help bolster the duo’s other offshoot retail lines including Nana Fraser’s Bakery, Baketico and Tinytico, but it’ll also allow for the creation of new pies.

“We have so many new flavours we’d love to bring out, as well as a restaurant series line that started years ago but has been delayed,” Capaldi said.

Wonder Pies joins fellow hospitality friends such as St Remio Coffee, Augustus Gelatery and City Larder at Coburg North’s The Newlands Quarter precinct.

The Wonder Pies store will open in mid December, as will reservations for the upstairs function space, with Capaldi also hoping to extend the cafe’s opening time to 24 hours within the next six months.

“I can’t wait to bring people here so we can give back. This space is giving me what I always wanted in business – a place where I can help people in hospitality,” Capaldi said.

Wonder Pies will open at Newlands Quarter, 113 Newlands Rd, Coburg from December 15.

Pieter Buijsse is the new executive chef at Jackalope. Picture: Amy Whitfield.

Jackalope scores new exec chef

Rising talent Pieter Buijsse has taken his first executive chef gig at Mornington Peninsula’s Jackalope Hotel.

Buijsse will oversee the workings of the hotel restaurant’s fine diner Doot Doot Doot and casual eatery, Rare Hare, as well as the hotel’s bars, room service and events spaces.

The Dutch-born chef most recently worked at Pt Leo Estate’s Laura.

“It’s very exciting and a big job to take on but I’m stoked,” Buijsse said.

“I had an amazing time (at Laura) but for me to make that next step and take on that next role, this job lined up perfectly with what I wanted.”

The move is a coup for Buijsse, who was this year was named in Melbourne Food and Wine Festival’s Top 30 Under 30 chef list.

The young chef, who has worked in Michelin-starred restaurants, is already shaking up Doot’s set menu by introducing a couple of new dishes to the summer offering.

Jackalope is the ultimate dining destination for well-heeled Peninsula folk.

Next year, he’ll look to reintroduce a degustation and less formal a la carte inspired set menu.

“I really want to make sure we’re engaging with our community,” he said.

“We have some of the best produce in the world, from abalone, to olive oil and chocolate – we have a wealth of small producers and top of the world ingredients.”

His signature golden mussels dish, whey poached and bobbing in a fragrant fois gras sauce, is sure to be a favourite among locals.

In other reshuffling news, Jordan Clavaron has moved from RACV’s Cape Schanck Resort to take the reins at Fitzroy’s Cutler and Co.

Cape Schanck has welcomed back Ricky Morris to fill the void, who has returned from stints at Crown Resorts and Flemington Racecourse. Morris helmed Cape Restaurant in 2019.

Meanwhile, Pt Leo Estate will make a return from the ashes this week, seven months after a fire ravaged the estate’s kitchen.

The restaurant reopens Wednesday, Laura on December 16.