Melbourne Patron

One cool evening in late September, three ladies went for dinner at one of Melbourne's hot new venues: Lucy Liu Kitchen and Bar (23 Oliver Lane, Melbourne) (also known as "Lucy Liu's" around town). They trotted up the cobblestone laneway and found a red neon sign proclaiming the way. Excited with anticipation, they squished through a narrow entrance and alighted upon the buzzing, angular restaurant. Unsure of which direction to take, the girls felt momentarily lost, but after a while someone led them to their table near the open kitchen, took their coats and the fun commenced. The single-sheet menus were an immediate source of amusement with metallic, holographic images on one side, mainly of animals - a hit with one of the girls in particular, who was an animal lover. The impressive restaurant interior was also an attraction. Slimline lengths of pale Tasmanian oak, spaced out at intervals, gave the impression of a flat wall, but provided a...

As I was moving out of the area, I made a few nostalgic brunch visits to one of my favourite cafes, Three Bags Full (60 Nicholson Street, Abbotsford). It was on one of these visits that I picked up a postcard advertising French dinners at the very same venue. Two of the cafe's chefs, Nicolas Toll é  and Fabien Laville (better known as Nico and Fab), are French expats who came up with the clever idea to use the cafe's space by night to stage dinners showcasing their talents as chefs with French-inspired dishes. Two handsome young French men cooking me food with the novelty of a setting I only knew by day? Sold! It turned out to be a girls' dinner on Thursday 11 December 2014. Four of us met at 8pm (sadly the only booking time left - we were quite starving on arrival! luckily there was bread) among the quiet hum of chatter and clinking glassware. There were no great changes in the cafe's layout, however the tables were laid with floral fabric placemats, ...

Some friends wanted to try the new Korean fusion joint Anju Restaurant + Bar (18 Little La Trobe Street, Melbourne), so I happily joined them for an early Friday dinner. Not having eaten much Korean food previously, I'm still learning about what constitutes 'traditional' Korean fare, so I was interested to see how this place did 'fusion'. Owner Young Choi went from a retail background to opening a completely fusion restaurant (combining Spanish, Mexican and Japanese), before adapting to patrons' requests for more the more traditional foods of his native background. The result is a schmick, modern restaurant/bar down a dodgy-looking CBD street, and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Let me break it down for you... The style Anju has a warm industrial feel with traditional accents. Wooden floorboards, tables and decorative features (like planter boxes and wooden toy trucks hanging overhead) are interspersed with hard industrial surfaces like ...