A sustainable seafood joint, a diner serving Italy’s greatest hits, and a small-batch bakery that punches above its weight. These are the latest and greatest eateries in Melbourne to have on your radar.
Pinchy’s Champagne & Lobster Bar
Chef Pierre Khodja (Camus) is at the helm of Pinchy’s Champagne & Lobster Bar. The bar vibe is well served by a multitude of neon signs, a colour scheme that skews pink and gold, and the presence of two bars. The sustainable-seafood menu lists Maine lobster rolls (above), prawn-head rolls with sea urchin aioli, an excellent octopus and potato salad and a crab taco. The huge balcony is prime position when the weather’s balmy.
Level 1, 200 Bourke St, Melbourne, pinchys.co
Falco
The team behind Bar Liberty and Capitano has turned its old Rockwell and Sons space into a bakery called Falco and taken on a new partner in the process. Christine Tran is a baker with a CV that includes Tivoli Road Bakery and San Francisco’s Tartine, and her repertoire runs to hand-shaped, organic flour loaves, pies (including excellent smoked chicken and leek) and chocolate and halva brownies. It’s a small-batch bakery so things do sell out quickly.
288 Smith St, Collingwood, falcobakery.com
Donna Maria Ristorante
Cook & Norman, the Italian restaurant on Flinders’ main street, is now Donna Maria Ristorante. The menu’s dial is set to “crowd-pleasing” with a greatest hits offering that includes cotoletta alla Milanese, spaghetti ai gamberi, bone marrow and Grana Padano risotto, and kingfish crudo with a lemon and anchovy dressing. The wine list will please the Italophiles.
52 Cook St, Flinders, (03) 5989 0160, donnamaria.com.au
