Melbourne Patron

Kisumé Japanese Restaurant The new fine-dining venture on Flinders Lane by the Lucas Group Any Melburnian foodie worth their salt is aware of the Lucas Group and its portfolio of very successful restaurants: Chin Chin , a loud hall of colourful South-East Asian food and cocktails on Flinders Lane that still attracts queues of several hours' wait, some six years after its opening Hawker Hall , a similar style venue to Chin Chin but on South Yarra's Chapel Street and with more of a focus on street food, that once infamously proffered a wait time equal to a return drive to Torquay with a beer stop in the middle Baby Pizza , quiet stalwart of the group, churning out delectable, fresh Italian food on Church Street, and  Kong , offering Japanese-Korean BBQ fusion also on Church Street, and perhaps the most casual venue of the lot.  And if you have read any of my posts before, you will know that I am utterly fed up with the 'Americana' craze, whereby every...

You know how life is sometimes like a weird puzzle with all the bits slowly connecting or disconnecting over time?  For example, Lee Ho Fook (92 Smith Street, Collingwood). I feel connected to it, sort of. In a tiny way. Let me try and explain. (If you don't like detail, skip to after the next photo!) When I still lived in Sydney, I went to a Halloween party where I met a cool chick (Miss Hospo) who, like me, was moving to Melbourne soon. When I arrived, I knew just one other person (Mr Chef), who I'd worked with in retail at Grace Bros (back when it used to be called Grace Bros). I was determined not to rely on him to show me around, introduce me to his friends, etc. But this was right after the GFC, and I found it much harder than I ever had before to land a job. So I asked Mr Chef if I could crash on his couch for a while to save money. While I was there, one of his housemates moved out, so I moved in and quickly became best friends with his other housemate (...

There's a lot of hype about Hammer & Tong 412 (Rear 412 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy), as there usually is about most new decent cafes, particularly ones so close to the hub of Fitzroy. In some cases, it's all hot air; in others, completely justified. In the case of Hammer & Tong, it is a mix of both. Housed in the former premises of The Brix (a short-lived bistro with a reputation for quality), Hammer & Tong's owners Dennis Ferreira and Simon Ward did little to change the fit-out, so impressed were they by its design. Their website describes the look as "light filled", "stylish" and its "own take on vintage-industrial chic". It is definitely more industrial than vintage. It's all hard surfaces and slate grey, in a long, narrow space with a cool but light and airy feel. I didn't find it particularly warm and cosy, but stylish it certainly is. I didn't witness too much in the way of "vintage" i...