St Kilda laneway cafe Flavours of Syria has opened a cosy new branch in Camberwell. Owner Nayran Tabiei has turned what was once a butcher shop, and more recently a Korean restaurant, into a simple but warm Middle Eastern haven.

Brunch might be a colourful version of foul, a sturdy broad bean dish, stirred with tahini and yoghurt, and flavoured with sumac and cumin. For lunch, there are bagels and croissants with Middle Eastern touches, such as pomegranate and zaatar, and eggplant stuffed with rice and minced lamb.

Thirsty? There’s Arabic coffee and cardamom or cinnamon tea, by the mug or the pot, and you’ll probably want house-made baklava to go with it.

Tabiei has already charmed St Kilda with her delightful chicken soup: it’s available here during winter, scented with saffron and topped with sweet fried onion.

“I want people to feel at home, to be here sitting and chatting,” says Tabiei, who also does catering. Customers are encouraged to call ahead to arrange dinner items for afternoon pick-up.

“You can bring a pot from home, if you want, and I will put mujadara (a bulgur and lentil dish) or soup in it,” says Tabiei. “I want every dish to look and taste just as good as if I served it to you myself.”

Open Mon-Fri, 10am-3pm; and from July 1, Fri, 5pm-10pm

187 Through Road, Camberwell, 0468 918 148, instagram.com/flavours_of_syria

“Nostalgic without being performatively so” is how chef Sarah Curwen-Walker describes the regional restaurant residency she runs with partner Rachael Cilauro.

Called Ratbag, it was born as a pop-up series at Castlemaine’s Boomtown Wine before Curwen-Walker and Cilauro took over the kitchen at nearby Chewton’s Red Hill Hotel. That last residency caught many people’s eyes. Now they’ve taken over the 40-person dining room of Castlemaine’s recently opened boutique hotel, Temperance House. Ex-Public Wine Shop and Agrarian Kitchen chef Ali Currey-Voumard popped up there over summer.

More bistro than pub, Ratbag’s new residency is a moveable feast often led by what’s available at the local weekly farmer’s market. On the handwritten menu, you might find hefty beef shin, mushroom and stout pies crowned with puff pastry, or hand-rolled orecchiette tangled with cime di rapa.

“And the desserts have developed a bit of a following,” says Curwen-Walker, who’s serving things like Neapolitan ice-cream (made next-level with organic strawberries and local Cabosse & Feve cacao) and decadent chocolate mousse with boozy prunes.

Run by a crack all-women team, Ratbag will be at Temperance House for the foreseeable future, apart from a two-month shutdown in August and September.

Open Fri-Sat, 5pm-9.30pm; Sun, noon-4pm

68 Mostyn Street, Castlemaine, ratbagfoodandwine.com.au

Behind a hidden door at this new Mornington cocktail bar lies secret speakeasy The Bon Vivant’s Companion

There’s more than meets the eye at a new (but old-timey) cocktail and whisky haunt, which has been more than a year in the making: it’s two bars in one.

Be lured off Mornington’s Main Street into The Bon Vivant’s Companion, with elegant art deco stylings, and glossy green and gold features.

Drinks are inspired by the bar’s namesake, a seminal 1862-published book on how to mix drinks by American bartender Jerry Thomas, whom bar-owner Tom Wicks calls the “grandfather of cocktails”.

But Wicks gives the classics modern touches. The Manhattan, traditionally made with rye whiskey, sweet vermouth and bitters, is made even deeper and richer with Hellyers Road whisky aged in pinot noir barrels, and a dash of chocolate bitters, while the Choc Fashioned is a sweeter spin on the traditionally bitter Old Fashioned.

You can snack on smoked trout rillettes with salmon roe and house-made chips.

Through one of three doors hidden in the geometric-patterned back wall, Wicks has also realised his dream of opening a whisky-focused speakeasy.

Called Jane, the bar has a 1920s Prohibition-era vibe, with sofas you can sink into and a slightly Japanese flair. The cocktail list might star a wakame-infused highball or a truffle fat-washed boulevardier.

The whisky collection has grown to nearly 200 bottles, including some from “next-level” Tasmanian distillery Belgrove, which grows its own ryecorn to make rye whisky.

Open Wed-Sun, 3pm-late

150 Main Street, Mornington, bonvivantbar.com.au

Italian wine-diner Mr Vincenzo’s rises from the ashes in Mornington

Last October, chef Matti Fallon’s debut restaurant, Colt in Mornington, was dealt a devastating blow, forced to close after a fire blazed through it only weeks after opening.

In the months since, Fallon has bounced back, opening a new Italian diner and wine bar in prime position on the Esplanade. Read more.