Directory

Pickings & Parry is one of those stores that makes you feel 10% more manly just by standing in it. As if, with enough passive exposure, you could arm wrestle a grizzly bear and mix an Old Fashioned at the same time.

Don’t let the crumbling exterior fool you—Prince Patrick Hotel is a step above your average corner pub.

If you’re wearing socks, prepare to have them blown clean off. Port Melbourne classic Ciao Cielo has moved into brand new digs, and even opened a cheeky sister bar, Ciao Cucina.

You’ve heard porky rumblings for months. But now we’re happy to announce Mr Crackles is finally (finally) serving in Melbourne.

If you’re driving along Gilbert Rd in Preston, don’t be surprised if a pop of pink and Ministry-Of-Magic-green tiling catches your eye. This is Pinky’s—a pastel design and homewares wonderland from local artist Emily Green and stylist Beckie Littler. AKA your new happy place.

There’s something smashed on the Hiatus menu. But it’s not avocado. In fact, nothing at this Zen-like Kew cafe is quite what you think. From the street it looks like a cosy little white-washed coffee nook...but there’s also a sunny timber-lined courtyard out back. They do smoothies...but the smoothies include things like ‘feijoa’, tonka beans and peppermint.

The Wayside Inn has seen a few iterations over its 100-odd year run. This is the latest of them. The old girl re-opened in early April (after a brief rest) with a new team, new booze and a new-look menu.

Clocks at Flinders St is part of the city's fabric...the city's slightly sticky, pokies, ca-ching ca-ching jackpot fabric. But now we're happy to say they've achieved something miraculous. Clocks is officially cool.

It’s places like Tulip that make us want to open our own little bijou espresso bar. Nothing fancy. Just a pink hole-in-the-wall, some cute branding, a crew of caffeinated regulars who stop by and have a chinwag. It’s such a simple concept, but barista-owner Sam Hall-Haydon has absolutely nailed it here.

It’s here, North Melbourne! Burgerlove has popped up in the Central Club Hotel on Victoria St, and your arteries will never be the same again.

If you’re travelling to Melbourne for work or play, or just looking for a little staycay—you’d be mad not to consider the Melbourne hotel institution that is Crown Towers.

Forks & Fingers. The name doesn’t give too much away. But trust us—this place is the definition of underrated gem. The team at F&F are spinning out some fusion creations that are totally changing the Indian food scene.

Thank god. The old mosaic welcome on the front doorstep is still there: ‘Come in for good times.’

Lulie (formerly ‘Lulie Street Tavern’) is one of those venues that inspires fierce local loyalty. Anyone living within 2km of this place probably swings by at least once a week. And they’ll be happy to know that the new Lulie isn’t too far away from the old site. In fact it’s just across the road.  

#Burgerlove has a long and proud history stretching back into the mists of time (well, around 1994). In those days they were cooking epic patties at the cult burger joint Cafe 51, the hidden gem of Melbourne’s burger nascent scene.

Dumplings and massages. Two of our (see: everyone’s) favourite things. Not necessarily a classic combination, but you won’t catch us complaining.

There are two truly iconic markets in Melbourne, when you get right down to it. Queen Victoria (which has been going strong since the 1860s) and South Melbourne Market, which first opened its stalls back in 1867.

Phwoar. Just pause for a moment to let the classiness waft over you. Because this place, right here, is genuinely stunning.

Local slow-fashion boutique Kuwaii started as an alternative to the ‘churn’ fashion model: cheap materials, low-quality labour, nothing sustainable or ethical. Founder and designer Kristy Barber wanted to change all that, so 10 years ago she started up a little boutique label (the name’s a play on kawaii, the Japanese cuteness culture).

There’s a sign at Rebel Blue that says ‘Mykonos – 14,799km’. Which feels appropriate—Windsor isn’t known for its Greek food.

There’s a review on Garden Foods’ Facebook page that goes like this:

St. Charly feels a bit like a generational invasion. Smack bang in the middle of Lygon’s Street’s spaghetti strip, you’ve got this: a pastel popping, geometric brunch bar, dishing up Euro-Asian breakfast and very good coffee. Is this a sign of things to come?

Need to break free from work for a couple of days? We’ve been there. The Novotel Melbourne South Wharf may just be the solution, in prime position for a cheeky Melbourne staycay.

You know that feeling where you really don’t want to cook, but also can't justify eating out? There's nothing in the cupboard (and not a lot in your bank account) and you wanna eat something delicious and healthy that'll make you a better person? Not too much to ask, right?

We all know the benefits of wellbeing, but nowhere in Melbourne is combining self-care with tasty food quite like Armadale’s newest addition: Willow Urban Retreat.

The legends over at Mopho Canteen have been slinging the tastiest pho on Carlisle Street since 2015. It's THE place to go in Balaclava for blood orange piña coladas and crispy pork spring rolls.

If you’re gonna build an over $10m park in Glen Huntly, you need a good Saturday brunch spot nearby. The two go hand in hand. You can’t have kids screaming on flying foxes and climbing ropes without a double-shot latte clutched in your white-knuckled hand.

Most people wouldn’t open a nursery dedicated to plants you can’t cuddle, but Naomi Burd isn’t most people. Cool Cactus is her indoor succulent store in Armadale, just off the main Glenferrie Rd drag.

If one thing’s for sure, it’s that when you sit down for a delish brekkie at this Hawthorn café, you ain’t drawing the short straw (pun very much intended), and let us tell you why.

This place takes ‘Drunken Chicken Soup’ to a whole new level. It’s called Wonder Bowl—a new pan-Asian noodle soup bar in the CBD.

Is it just us, or does the word ‘bagelry’ sound delicious? A purveyor of bagels. It’s the same feeling we get any time we drive past a self-described ‘chippery’. Well hold onto your pretzels, guys, because Balaclava just got a new bagelry, and it’s yeasty as hell.

Who would have thought we’d see the day when Seven nightclub turned into a brunch bar, eh? If we had a nickel for all the bad decisions we’ve made in this building...

Raoul Symons was the brains behind Motorina in Elsternwick and worked the kitchen at France-Soir—so it’s no big surprise his new venture, Stella Deluxe, is a notch or two above your standard pizzeria.

The Hash Coffee team are back (seriously, do these guys ever sleep?) with yet another cafe, and this time they’re not pulling any punches. Presenting Whitehorse Chloe—a two-storey, all-white Asian-inspired brunch bar in Box Hill.

Rosanna is one of those ‘growth suburbs’, which is basically code for ‘still able to buy a house here’. It’s booming with young families, moving out of the big smoke for a simpler life near the Warrigal parklands and a Yarra River that doesn’t look like brown sludge.

Sometimes you just know that a bar’s onto a good thing. The cocktails are on point, there’s a savvy chef in the kitchen, and the designer fit-out screams ‘Pantone Of The Year 2018’. Well Prahran’s new cerulean cocktail bar has all of that and then some.

These guys sure know how to stick to a theme.

You’ve probably driven along St Kilda Rd and seen that huge ‘stacked block’ building and thought, ‘I wonder what that place is about?’ Well mostly it’s about annoying modern architecture. But it’s also about the secret speakeasy bar on the ground floor.

This place will strrrreeetch your idea of what makes a good pizza. Stretched is a new Coburg pizzeria from husband and wife duo chef Dario D’Agostino and Ly Nguyen, along with ex-banker turned pizza-maker Joe Codespoti, and it’s making waves with some very unorthodox flavour combos.

Melbourne’s restaurant scene doesn’t hang about, does it? About seven months ago, Commune Group (Neptune, Tokyo Tina, Hanoi Hannah) opened BKK in Windsor. And seven months later it’s transformed into something entirely new: Alter Dining.

Sitting on an unassuming part of Brunswick Street, Mukka is quietly serving up some of the most authentic Indian cuisine in Melbourne.

Ahhh, so THIS is how the other half live. Those swish, globe-trotting businessmen and women who use words like ‘dividend’ and spent domestic flights making calls to their broker in Helsinki. We noticed half a dozen in the lobby of Crown’s elegant Southbank hotel, Metropol.

Fonda Collingwood isn't one to miss. And no, we’re not just talking about the very Instagrammable pastel pink and purple wall out front…this place is bang-on with the food and drinks as well.

Want to know what $16m looks like in the hands of Victoria’s hottest architects? It looks like the new hotel at Mitchelton winery in the Goulbourn Valley, a couple of hours due north of Melbourne.

Sometimes it’s the little things that can make a big difference. Just ask Little Things café and coffee roastery, yet another smash hit addition to Blackburn’s ever-growing food scene.

If you ever tried wheel pottery in school, you’ll know it’s a) messy as hell, and b) a LOT of fun. It doesn’t even matter if your bowl comes out looking a bit wonky—call it ‘rustic’ and bump the market-stall price by 20%. Everyone’s a winner.

The Australian-made, tailored silhouettes of Manning Cartell have a glorious new postcode to call home. They've sashayed their way onto the ritzy strip of High Street, Armadale. 

There's no doubt about it: Melbourne is ageing backwards when it comes to music. If you don't have a retro turntable hooked up to a killer amp at home, do you even really have ears?

If you move in the right kind of boozy circles, you might have heard whispers of this place. A brand new cellar door for the Bellarine Distillery, down in Drysdale. Well now it’s finally here.

Blackburn’s got a new cafe on the block, and we recommend you introduce yourself quick-smart. Located right by Laburnum station in Blackburn, The Joy Parade is a pocket of tasty goodness, using Australian produce and following a mindset of keep it simple, and do it well.

The Tinker guys have done it again. Fresh off the back of Bentwood, which opened late 2017, they’ve launched Clubhouse in Malvern—a green n’ white golf-themed cafe that’s well above par (or should that be below par...we’re trying to say it’s very good).

We’ve always wanted a nom de plume. Something badass like ‘Spoons’ or ‘The Scarlet Shadow’. Not many people get nom de plumes, but Peter Jo is one of them—he’s known around town as Kimchi Pete.

If there’s a more Colombian restaurant in Melbourne, we haven’t found it yet. La Tienda is the latest eatery to join Windsor’s fabled ‘eat street’ scene: a no-holds-barred Colombian paradise, complete with housemade arepas, imported spirits and more national pride than you’ll see anywhere outside a Barranquilla football stadium.

The Essential Ingredient is a Melbourne legend. The cooking school has been going strong for the last 26 years (ever since it was The Vital Ingredient back in the 80s), but it's the cookware retail stores that have become a cult sleeper. If it chops, slices, dices, boils, fries or sous vides, chances are good you can find it here.

Just when you thought it was safe to go out in the city...

A lot gets written about South vs North sensibilities these days, as if a good pizza isn’t welcome on either side of the Yarra. It doesn’t really matter if you favour lycra or flannel. When it comes to appropriate cheese ratios, quality toppings and the perfect wood-fired base—delicious is delicious.

Everyone knows you can’t have #apartmentporn without a few monstera, fiddle leafs and Devil’s Ivy dangling from the ceiling, right?  

When QT launched a few years ago, they chose for their flagship restaurant Pascale Bar & Grill. It was a ballsy opening. Black glass, Baroque flourishes, ladies in Mia Wallace wigs out front, boobs in the toilets (long story) and a scattergun menu than ran 40 dishes deep.

Geez, what’s in the water on Punch Lane? The CBD’s theatre zone is one of the hottest strips in town right now. It’s the Hansel of dining precincts. In 2017 we got Juliet, last month we got Bar Saracen, and now (right next door) we have Sunda, new digs from the guys behind Hotel Windsor.

They don’t make butchers like this anymore.