Tuck in, Darwin! The city’s culinary scene just scored big with the opening of Tucker at Flick’s, located in the newly-minted Cinema Collective. It’s the latest addition to the multi-million-dollar Mitchell Street hub, which has been turning heads since its debut in early 2024.
Before we tuck into Tucker’s native-inspired menu or introduce the MasterChef alumnus behind it, let’s take a quick trip down memory lane. Once the home of Darwin’s first multi-screen cinema, this Mitchell Street spot has sat dormant for the past six years. But thanks to hospo heavyweights Steven Dugan and Justin Coleman – the legends behind Landmark at Gateway, Breezes Bar and Bistro, plus the Great Northern in Byron Bay – it’s been reimagined as a multi-use venue, with a dazzling bar Sweethearts, glamorous pub Flick’s, and now, the eagerly anticipated “show kitchen” Tucker at Flick's.
Following in the footsteps of fellow MasterChef alumnus Minoli De Silva (of Ella by Minoli), local firefighter and season 14 contestant, Daniel Lamble, is stepping up to lead the kitchen alongside The Cinema Collective’s head chef, Jake Horyna (Akiba). Their new menu is a love letter to the Territory, blending Darwin’s rich mix of cuisines with fresh, local ingredients.
Lamble said: “Our vision is to create finger foods that can be enjoyed without cutlery, and shareable snacks that provide a casual and communal dining experience. The flavours are all about utilizing seasonal, local, and native produce with a focus on cooking over fire with bright, salty, acidic flavours suited to our climate.”
You can kick things off alfresco with a refreshing pint of Matso’s ginger beer and some super snackable roasted nuts, caramelised in galangal relish. From here, load up the table with kangaroo tail croquettes, salty plum pork skewers, chimichurri crocodile bites and Darwin’s take on ceviche: snapper ‘nummus’, served with coconut lime dressing and smoked paperbark oil.
If you’re up for dinner and a show, nab a seat by the centrepiece custom pizza oven, where you can watch Australian twists on classic wood-fired pizzas take shape, alongside Tucker’s signature stout damper – sure to evoke memories of cosy nights spent around the campfire. When your belly is all satisfied, slide over to Sweethearts bar next door, where the after-party kicks off nightly with musicians around duelling pianos.