The best new venues in Melbourne right now

While Melbourne is heralded as the hub of multicultural fare, Nordic cuisine is at times hard to come by. Frejya is putting Scandinavia on the Australian culinary map by experimenting with ancient cooking techniques and local seasonal ingredients to provide the ultimate dining experience. 

Literally translating to ‘younger brother’ in Japanese, Otōto is the laidback sibling of Akaiito that takes a more relaxed approach to Japanese dining. Ideally suited for meeting up with friends for a bite to eat or to gather for after-work drinks, the menu is designed for sharing, with highlights including kingfish sashimi on salt rock and Black Angus short rib in a Bo Ssam sauce. 

The brains behind hip southside eateries New Quarter, Hanoi Hannah, Tokyo Tina and Firebird have opened Moonhouse, a mod-Chinese bistro in Balaclava. Filling the heritage-listed Art Deco space that was once a bank (among its many lives, the space was also residence to local fave restaurant Ilona Staller, which called it a day at the end of 2020), Moonhouse is an 110-seat venue with private dining upstairs, as well as a cocktail bar.

After four years in the making, The Continental Hotel is reborn, and with it comes Audrey's – Scott Pickett's elegant fine diner. An homage to Pickett's grandmother, Audrey, who instilled his passion for cooking, the restaurant delivers a seafood-centred menu that aptly matches the sweeping dining room views of Port Phillip Bay.

Tucked in an unassuming alley a few steps from the bustle of Hardware Lane you'll find Serai, a 50-seater loft serving up Filipino food over fire. When ex-Rice Paper Sister chef Ross Magnaye returned from a stint in Bulgaria, he knew his next venture would be a place of his own. Alongside co-owner Shane Stafford (also of Rice Paper Sister), he set out to create a menu that plays true to his Filipino heritage.

Nudging its way onto the bustling Little Collins strip in March 2022, Parcs (“scrap” backwards) is the little venue on a big mission. Owned by the team behind Aru and Sunda and helmed by 26-year-old sustainability savant, Dennis Yong, Parcs is tackling food waste head-on by putting fermentation to the front. 

Botswana Butchery isn't your average butchery; the opulent venue houses up to 300 diners across its three grand levels that are fitted out with dining rooms, bars and private function areas. The signature dish comes in the form of a four-hour slow-cooked lamb shoulder, where no knife shall be in sight given it should melt off the bone with the brush of a spoon.

Plant-based and Fitzroy tend to go hand in hand, and Umbra is here to attest to just that. Ryan Spurell (Estelle, Dinner by Heston, Fat Duck London, Brae) has joined forces with Vue De Monde apprentice chef Sarah Cremona to co-tailor the palate-inspiring vegan menu at the new Brunswick Street venue.

First impressions count, and Grill Americano delivers plenty of good ones. Chris Lucas’ latest restaurant distils a retro-glam brief into a squelchingly expensive fit-out of terrazzo floors and royal blue leather seats, a sweeping white marble bar lit by individual deco-ish lamps and the sultry backdrop of ink-blue walls. Gosh, it’s nice. Add a soundtrack that will whisk you straight to the Amalfi Coast in the company of Dickie Greenleaf and it’s almost impossible to resist.