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Dani Valent

Dani Valent

Food writer and restaurant reviewer

Dani Valent is a food writer and restaurant reviewer.

Emils’ Turkish eggs with sujuk sausage and simit bread.

The brunch bunch: Melbourne’s top 30 cafes right now

In the countdown to The Age Good Food Guide 2025, we celebrate the cafes that provide perfect cremas and brunch every which way, always with a side of joy.

  • Dani Valent
Stefano de Pieri is the don of Mildura hospitality.

Legendary Mildura chef Stefano de Pieri planned to quit – instead, he’s teaching locals to cook

Italian-born chef and restaurateur Stefano de Pieri intended to sell his Mildura restaurant and retire. Instead, he’s staying on and opening a cooking school.

  • Dani Valent
Jishan Garden serves banquets, a la carte and afternoon tea in grand surrounds.
14/20

There’s nowhere else quite like this Chinese restaurant in an ornate Melbourne mansion

Jishan Garden is a fine dining and afternoon tea destination, with a garden bar in the works for summer.

  • Dani Valent
Play “spot the camel” at La Vetta.
Good Food hat15/20

This newly hatted hilltop restaurant is one of Melbourne’s most surprising destinations

There are multiple reasons to point yourself towards La Vetta, a winery restaurant on the city’s northern fringe.

  • Dani Valent
Mushroom dumplings with curry oil from Tony Tan’s new book.

DIY dumplings aren’t as difficult as you think. Cooking teacher Tony Tan shows you how

Dumplings are an activity as much as they are a food. So gather the crew and get wrapping – it doesn’t matter if the sizes don’t match or one is misshapen.

  • Dani Valent
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Deep-fried chicken thigh with hot oil garlic sambal.

Choose from 20 chilli sambals at this hot and spicy eatery where most dishes are under $12

Australia’s first Waroeng SS Spesial Sambal restaurant celebrates the Indonesian obsession with the condiment.

  • Dani Valent
Malewa City pop-up restaurant in Balaclava.

‘A true find’: This pop-up is the kind of place that makes Melbourne worth celebrating

Warehouse cafe Glass Merchants turns into Congolese restaurant, Malewa City, three nights a week.

  • Dani Valent
Chef Annie Smithers growing vegetables for her Trentham restaurant, Du Fermier.

Archaic law prevents beloved chef from watering her vegetables

Trucking water in by tanker despite having her own lake may be the only option for Annie Smithers and her Trentham restaurant garden.

  • Dani Valent
Cochinita pibil (pork) tacos.
14/20

Ride the vertical version of the City Circle tram to get to this Mexi-Melbourne stalwart

This sky-high saloon in the heart of the city has been in business for 11 years, but there’s something special about where it sits right now.

  • Dani Valent
Bar owner Liam Ganley in his just-renovated Irish bar, which has remained busy.

An icon closes and St Kilda restaurants slump as diners head to the pub instead

Iconic restaurant Prince Dining Room is the latest closure in the bayside suburb as price-conscious punters turn to pubs to stretch their dining dollar.

  • Dani Valent

Original URL: https://www.smh.com.au/goodfood/by/dani-valent-hven6