Whether you feel an Armenian-shaped hole in Melbourne’s dining scene or you’re always searching for the perfect city bistro open morning to night, the city’s restaurant tastemakers have got all that and more in the works. With these new openings, winter is set to be anything but dreary.

Elio’s Place

This day-to-night spot a few steps from the bustling crossroads that is Flinders Lane and Swanston Street aims to be the place you head “whether you’re in the city for work or you’re on holidays or you’re coming into town for a gig or a theatre show,” says Elisa Mariani, who is opening the venue with brother Adam.

Named after their late father, Elio’s (which joins the siblings’ other city venues Maverick and Greta) will channel his welcoming disposition and Italian respect for good food and wine, but with farther reaching influences (Spain, France, Britain) on its menu. Mornings will be all about European breakfasts and pastries; lunch and dinner share the same menu (except for sandwiches to go); and each day there’ll be aperitivo with drinks specials. Pasta and focaccia will be made in-house. With Studio Co & Co (Rocco’s Bologna Discoteca) on board, it’s set to be a stunner.

Opens mid-2024. Shop 1, 238 Flinders Lane, Melbourne.

Tzaki

Fans of Greek food are becoming spoiled for choice in Melbourne, with more beyond the Hellenic heartland of Oakleigh. Tzaki in Yarraville is the latest, opening this winter under the eye of chef Alex Xinis (ex-Press Club, Hellenic Republic).

By day, it’ll trade as a takeaway cafe offering Greek pastries and flatbreads. At night, it flips to a buzzy mezze bar modelled on those of Athens, pouring Greek wines and tsipouro (a distilled grape spirit). Xinis plans to serve wood-roasted octopus, red mullet with braised chickpeas, and saganaki made with metsovone, a smoked cheese from northern Greece.

The room’s warm orange tones, popping against galvanised steel and other contemporary design touches, nod to the open-flame cooking in the kitchen.

31 Ballarat Street, Yarraville, tzaki.com.au

Mr Vincenzo’s

Chef Matti Fallon’s bold and boisterous debut restaurant, Colt Dining, was a short-lived jolt of energy for Mornington. A fire just three weeks in brought it to a screeching halt, but the chef hasn’t given up. A fresh new concept, Mr Vincenzo’s, will open in a new site across from the beach-facing Mornington Park in June, serving a likeable menu of Italian in a laid-back setting with a sea-facing terrace and decor inspired by the 1970s. Big bowls of goat’s cheese and burnt butter ravioli to share will join T-bone steaks with marsala and mushroom sauce, plus Nashville hot chicken sporting a grana padano crumb.“However you want to eat, we’ll feed you,” says Fallon.

784 Esplanade, Mornington, mrvincenzos.com

Zareh and Sarafian

Tom Sarafian’s long-awaited debut restaurant is landing in central Melbourne this winter. But he’s not stopping there. Zareh – serving dishes from Armenia, Lebanon, North Africa and more – will be joined by a delicatessen and daytime venue named Sarafian. The chef was last in a kitchen full-time at Bar Saracen, so anticipation for his return to restaurants is high.

More information at: instagram.com/zareh.melbourne and instagram.com/sarafian.melbourne

Molli and Little Molli

Between opening Zareh and Sarafian, The Mulberry Group (Lilac Wine, Hazel, Dessous) is also finding time to open another twin-set of venues. Landing in Abbotsford this June, Molli is a neighbourhood bistro and wine bar with an open kitchen in which chef Aleksis Kalnins will cook mostly on a Josper charcoal oven. The adjoining Little Molli will function as coffee pit-stop, sandwich counter, delicatessen and grocer, with items for the deli also available to snack on with wine.

20-30 Mollison Street, Abbotsford, molliabbotsford.com.au

Circl

Shaking up the way wine is served, this two-storey city venue will tread the line between bar and restaurant, offering 150 wines by the glass and opening a rare bottle every week to share it with more people. Opening mid-June, Circl is led by former Ten Minutes by Tractor sommelier Xavier Vigier who is assembling a crack team front-of-house to talk people through the depth and breadth of the wine list. Elias Salomonsson (ex-Scott Pickett Group and Vue Group) is in the kitchen. The fit-out, rich in copper details, is by March Studio.

22 Punch Lane, Melbourne, instagram.com/circlwinehouse/