Trail-blazing chef Hugh Allen (Vue de Monde) will open a new conceptual restaurant in Melbourne’s Fitzroy Gardens in spring this year.
Named Yiaga, its focus will be a multi-course experience showcasing rare and unique ingredients in a custom-built dining room, set amongst the gardens.
“I came across the dilapidated space when I was going on one of my 5km walks during Covid,” Allen tells Gourmet Traveller. “I was always on the lookout for the site for my first restaurant, and it was perfect.”
With over 100 years of hospitality heritage, the site has had various incarnations. For its next, renowned Australian architect John Wardle has been enlisted to bring Yiaga’s vision to life.
“This little building could exist nowhere else,” says Wardle. “It will be so specific not only to the city of Melbourne and the state of Victoria, but to its place in the remarkable historical park.” Built using primarily local materials – from ceramics made of the same clay as the MCG pitch to bricks inspired by the surrounding bar – Yiaga will have a strong focus on place. This carries through to the eating experience, with the kitchen and dining room sharing the same space.
“We want to design the kitchen so it’s as much a part of the park as possible,” says Allen, who won GT’s Chef of the Year in 2023. “So, it’s not like you’re in a little stainless steel box. The guests are right in the kitchen, surrounded by this amazing garden, with natural light.”
The menu, currently deep in the development stage, is set to change seasonally, shining a spotlight on left-of-centre ingredients. “We’re looking for new, raw and fresh producers,” says Allen. “We want guests to have that sense of discovery, and for it to be an exciting opportunity to try foods they maybe haven’t eaten before.”
This may look like lesser-known vegetables or hand-caught seafood. “Perhaps sea urchin from the Victorian coast,” he continues. “We’re working on an aged kangaroo chop – so aging a kangaroo rib, essentially in beef fat, and cooking out slowly over eucalyptus. These are all just tests at the moment, but we definitely want people to be discovering things for the first time.”
Crucially, this new project won’t mean Allen stepping away from his current executive chef role. “Nothing will change at Vue de Monde,” he says. “I’ll just be back and forth constantly throughout the day.” Beyond Allen, both businesses will run separately, each with its own team.
Encompassing a multitude of experiences, accolades and television appearances, Allen’s career started at 16 when he became an apprentice at Rockpool, and also includes three years at the high-pressure Noma (including its Sydney and Mexican pop-ups). Both lauded tenures are likely to inform his work at Yiaga.
With the slated spring launch still months away, it’s set to be one of 2025’s most exciting, and Allen is just as excited. “We’re not even open yet but it’s already turning out better than I could have hoped for.”
Yiaga is due to open in spring of 2025 in Melbourne’s Fitzroy Gardens.
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