What’s happening around town • Indigenous chef Nick Geddes is taking over the Enter Via Laundry kitchen for a Naidoc Week dinner on Tuesday July 7. For $125 per person, you’ll enjoy a five-course meal including crocodile bhaji (an Indian fritter), braised kangaroo tail with paperbark damper, and a yabby and abalone biryani. Bookings essential. • Reine, Edition Hospitality’s grand French diner, is holding truffle lunches every Sunday until July 12. The four-course menu is $185 per person and includes truffle mashed potatoes; Sher Wagyu
MB9 beef cheek with watercress, kohlrabi and truffle; and Jerusalem artichoke and truffle crème brûlée. Plus, wholegrain and rye sourdough with black truffle cultured butter made in collaboration with Madeleine Butter. • Nico’s sandwich automat has introduced a new winter menu of three fried chicken sandwiches at escalating levels of spice – medium, hot and seriously hot – as well as a medium-spicy fried plant-based “chicken” sanga. Plus, in July, any time the weather drops below 5 degrees Celsius, each sandwich will be available for
just $5. What we covered this week • Shannon Martinez opens a new Smith & Deli on Degraves Street. • First look: The Mulberry Group flips its Abbotsford bistro – again. • Ca Com and Tom Sarafian are making banh mi shawarma this Sunday. • Carnation Canteen chef Audrey Shaw and Pidapipo have teamed up on a pie and gelato combo, available for three weeks only. • Six to try: suburban Korean restaurants for comforting soup. • Coming soon: Market stall Cakehouse to bring its
Americana bakes to a permanent shop in Fitzroy. • Where Chefs Eat: 27 top chefs on the best wine bars and restaurants for a snack and a glass. • Four to try: smash burger diners and pop-ups to add to your list. • Australia’s best pie has been crowned for 2026 – and it’s from a Victorian bakery. • Juni’s head chef shares the five dishes you need to order at the mod-Asian diner. • A Michelin-starred taqueria joins forces with Chin Chin for three
nights only. • New hire: Jamsheed’s head chef John Cassie is perfecting his chicken schnitzel. • Gallery: Robata and Tamura joined forces for a one-night-only Japanese feast. You might have missed • Chef’s Kiss: supermarket tinned tomatoes tested and rated by Julia Busuttil Nishimura.
food news, Naidoc Week dinner, Nick Geddes, Enter Via Laundry, truffle lunches, Reine, Edition Hospitality, Nico’s sandwich automat, $5 sangas, fried chicken sandwiches, plant-based chicken sanga, Fitzroy, Degraves Street
Crocs bhaji?? Isn’t that illegal or like… not a real thing? $125 better come with an apology.
The $5 sandwich thing only when it’s under 5 degrees is kinda dumb ngl. Like what if it never hits winter temp?? Also “seriously hot” sounds like a lawsuit.
Wait so Nico’s is doing fried chicken sandwiches and also a plant-based “chicken” sanga? I saw the headline and thought it was just $5 all the time. If it’s only sometimes then it’s not really a deal lol.
Truffle lunches every Sunday until July 12 for $185 is insane. I love truffle but $185 for mashed potatoes sounds like a scam. Also Naidoc dinner with kangaroo tail paperbark bread?? I don’t even know what paperbark damper is but I’m guessing it’s just fancy bread. Still… I might go if it’s “only” one night.