Just days after Indian-influenced pop-up Saadi wrapped up its three-month residency at Sunda, the chef couple behind it announced they’re permanently replacing the modern Southeast Asian diner. Saadi officially opens on Punch Lane on September 3.

Chef couple Saavni Krishnan – the 2025 Age Good Food Guide Young Chef of the Year – and Aditya “Adi” Suresh both quit their full-time jobs to focus on the residency, following three years of running Saadi events and pop-ups across Melbourne. That gamble has paid off.

“It feels very surreal,” says Suresh. “But it’s great to have the residency behind us in the same space we’ll be moving into, because we’re in the groove of working in there now.”

The success of the pop-up – which was only supposed to run throughout May, but was extended until late July – prompted Sunda’s owner, the Halim Group, to make Saadi a permanent fixture in the site after closing Sunda in January.

The venue will remain part of the Halim Group stable, which also includes Aru and Antara. Front-of-house staff and mentoring will be provided, but Krishnan and Suresh will have creative control over the menu.

“Having the support of a group means many of the challenges that young restaurateurs normally face are taken [out of the equation],” says Suresh.

Sunda’s industrial fit-out will be retained, with some new interior flourishes, including a colourful artwork by Hiro Feliciano, who’s behind much of Saadi’s playful branding.

Saadi, a portmanteau of Saavni and Adi, not only blends their names but their respective Indian upbringings and their experience cooking in top Australian kitchens, including Etta, and Sydney fine diner Fred’s. Prior to this, Krishnan was sous chef at Manze in North Melbourne and Suresh was Gemini’s head chef in Coburg.

“We are grateful to be given this opportunity, very excited to serve customers in such an amazing venue, and extremely nervous and anxious to see how it all pans out,” Krishnan said in May.

While organising more than a dozen pop-ups over three years – at wine bars like Arnold’s and Sleepy’s, and wineries like the Indian-owned Avani on the Mornington Peninsula – the pair gained confidence in their concept.

At the permanent restaurant, there’ll be an $85 set dinner menu plus an abridged $45 set lunch menu and small a la carte bar snack selection. New dishes will be added each season.

Come September, the opening menu will “scream spring” and tap into a lot of family recipes. “Almost 90 per cent you wouldn’t find in restaurants even in India,” says Suresh.

But the magic is in how Krishnan and Suresh throw creative curveballs.

One snack, called achar, will use Krishnan’s grandmother’s pickling recipe on late-season celeriac, which will top a spiced cracker. Kadhi pakora involves fritters made with in-season vegetables served in a yoghurt-based sauce.

Loddon Valley lamb brisket will be rolled, stuffed and cooked over charcoal for a kebab dish with bitter chicory and fermented citrus dressing.

“Back when we started, we never thought this is where we could be,” says Suresh. “I think Melbourne as a whole has really accepted our food.”

Saadi opens on September 3.

18 Punch Lane, Melbourne, saadimelbourne.com