Find one in a famed Melbourne garden, another in Australia’s largest shopping centre, and others tucked in the backstreets.
Melbourne is lucky the summer sun has stuck around a little longer than usual this year. But as the mercury dips, it’s time to start looking for places to cosy up in.
This new crop of openings is the perfect starting point. From top-tier hot-chocolatiers to neighbourhood gems, here are five new cafes to try – and the cosy item to order at each.
Sana, Cheltenham
Steven Chrun has cafes on two picturesque Sydney wharves: Celsius at Kirribilli and Monsteraat Mosman Bay. His latest venue opening, in Melbourne, mixes things up.
Sana is a few kilometres from the water in the backstreets of Cheltenham, where a menu punctuated by Japanese flourishes is making waves with the neighbourhood.
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Some locals catch rays and sip strawberry-matcha lattes in the dog-friendly outdoor area, while others order big, digging into two-hands-necessary wagyu katsu sandos.
A cosy must-order: Udon carbonara, a Japanese-Italian hybrid that uses three cheeses. It comes with charred kaiserfleisch, smoked dashi, a soft egg and heaps of black pepper.
33 Ambrose Avenue, Cheltenham, instagram.com/sana.melbourne
Mork Chocolate, Chadstone
In March 2015, Mork – now Melbourne’s hottest name in hot chocolate – debuted with its North Melbourne brew house. Ten years on, the indie chocolate maker has opened its fifth location, in Chadstone Shopping Centre’s new mega Market Pavilion.
“We’ve always been in niche, tucked-away locations,” co-founder Josefin Zernell says of the Mork shopfronts. “Being in such a high foot-traffic area is such a big deal for us.”
Where “most chocolate stores are like jewellery stores – everything behind glass”, Zernell says, this one is playful, with floors that look like untempered chocolate.
All the most popular menu items are here, including the torched-marshmallow-topped Campfire Hot Chocolate (“What signature drink lasts 10 years?” says Zernell), plus new chocolate cocktails, single-origin chocolate bars, and the team’s house-baked goods.
A cosy must-order: Chocolate, sesame and leatherwood honey brownie alongside a spiced chocolate negroni, made by cold-infusing Nicaraguan cacao husks in gin.
Lower ground, kiosk 0105, 1341 Dandenong Road, Chadstone, morkchocolate.com.au
Como Lane, South Yarra
“It doesn’t get much more beautiful than Como,” says restaurateur Scott Pickett (Matilda, Smith St Bistro et al.) of the historical house and garden in South Yarra, where he’s just unveiled his first full-service cafe, Como Lane.
Alex Squadrito
Through wrought-iron gates and past painstakingly kept gardens, the new Eurocentric eatery awaits in the former gardeners’ sheds, offering indoor-outdoor dining seven days a week.
Whether you’re after a Cobb Lane pastry and Merchant Coffee Roasters brew to enjoy on the grass, or a dine-in experience – from scrambled eggs with Longrain’s XO sauce at breakfast to a decadent croque monsieur at lunch – Como Lane has you sorted.
“We wanted to bring our restaurant-quality food to an iconic Melbourne venue,” says Pickett, who’s also in charge of catering weddings and functions at Como House.
A cosy must-order: Poached peach pancake with raspberries, toasted almonds and whipped vanilla cream.
20 Como Avenue, South Yarra, comolane.com.au
YTB, South Yarra
Yugen Dining’s Chapel Street sibling has entered a new era. Yugen Tea Bar – with its tea sommelier and 40-odd distinctive varieties from around the world – was seen as a special-occasion spot for high tea. Now it’s morphed into the more approachable YTB.
“We needed to start with a strong menu that signifies that this is a cafe now, but we didn’t want to lose our creativity,” says Stephen Nairn, Yugen’s culinary director.
Asian-inspired sangers mostly use house-made shokupan, and flavour-packed salads are a lunchtime win. But executive pastry chef Kay-Lene Tan’s sweets are the real showstopper, ranging from matcha-white chocolate cookies to calamansi olive oil cake.
Ceremonial-grade matcha leads a tea list that’s shorter than before, but is set to grow.
A cosy must-order: Buckwheat taiyaki, a Japanese fish-shaped waffle filled with miso egg, aged cheddar and togarashi. It’s served with pickles and a pickled-ginger dressing.
Shop 10, 605 Chapel Street, South Yarra, yugenteabar.com.au
On Air, Cremorne
It’s not often that a coffee shop is as concerned about what’s in your cup as what’s on the speakers. But that’s what sets Cremorne’s On Air – in the former Coe & Coe space – apart.
“It’s a listening lounge,” says Deyon Murphy, who has a background in music events.
Citing a decline in club culture, he and co-founder Francesca Poci wanted to build a community of musos (and music-lovers) outside traditional party environments.
Heart Media
Expect a rotating line-up of DJs and in-house radio channels that showcase local talent, focusing on house and electronic music.
There’s Inglewood coffee, The Grain Emporium pastries and the same panini Coe & Coe used to serve, but in different surrounds: “a ’70s loft vibe” with blond timber bleachers.
A cosy must-order: The bestselling Freddie’s panino – chicken schnitzel, lemon-dressed rocket, Mexican lime salt and mayo on bread from Abbotsford bakery Dench.
25 Stephenson Street, Cremorne, onaircremorne.com.au
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