British-born chef Michael Lambie has distinguished himself in Melbourne for decades, bringing culinary prowess to Taxi Dining Room, Stokehouse and the now-closed Circa in their early days, and opening Lucy Liu, the city eatery with pan-Asian influences.

Since selling Lucy Liu just before COVID – and seeking a brief sea change on the Gold Coast with bar and restaurant Rubi Red – he’s been ruminating on what to do next.

“The goal was always to come back to Melbourne,” Lambie tells Good Food.

Five years later, he’s achieved it with Juni, which draws inspiration from across South-East Asia. It opens on Exhibition Street this week.

“It’s a big commitment to do a restaurant like this – with the economic climate – so it was important not to rush in,” he says of Juni, named in honour of his late mother.

Taking over an old Officeworks store meant Lambie could start with a blank canvas. And guided by Carlton architectural firm Techne, he says the fit-out has evolved to evoke “a mix of 1960s Hong Kong and Blade Runner 2049” – with splashes of red in many shades, swish leather banquettes and a mezzanine-level private dining space overlooking the main restaurant.

On the ground floor, the adjoining bar and dining room share the same menu, churned out of a central open kitchen, but Lambie hopes it’s flexible enough to cater to everyone from the pre-theatre crowd to those looking for a full-on feast, or even just a nightcap.

Lambie fell hard for South-East Asian flavours in the early 2000s, after visits to Japan and Thailand. Initially, his cooking combined his classical French training with Asian flavours before he embraced an Asian palate.

“My passion for this style of food and my joy to be in the kitchen again is driving Juni. It’s nothing like Lucy Liu; it’s Michael Lambie now.”

Chef Michael Lambie

“This love of these flavours and my style have evolved, beginning at Taxi, then Lucy Liu – both very different venues – and now, Juni, which is different again.

“My passion for this style of food and my joy to be in the kitchen again is driving Juni. It’s nothing like Lucy Liu; it’s Michael Lambie now.”

Juni’s menu includes crowd-pleasing, seafood-heavy snacks such as hiramasa kingfish with jalapeno nam jim and yuzu, and seared tuna tataki dressed with the punchy pairing of ginger and wasabi. “You can’t reinvent the wheel, but you can always put new tyres on it,” he says.

They’re best enjoyed with a similarly aromatic cocktail: the Golden Child has tom-yum rum and makrut-lime syrup, and Sichuan chilli oil adds tongue-tingling spice to the Kiki Martini.

Moving through the menu, you’ll also find togarashi-spiced cauliflower, sticky rare-breed pork belly with coconutty caramel, and hand-folded crayfish dumplings.

But Lambie is particularly excited about the duck – “Peking with a little twist”. He’s dry-ageing ducks for two weeks, roasting them until crisp and serving them by the half with daikon kimchi, cucumber, spicy hoisin sauce and pancakes to package it all up in.

Along with Maison Batard and Bossa Nova Sushi, Juni is a strong newcomer to the top end of Bourke Street and its surrounds, where Lambie hopes “a real new dining precinct will come alive”.

Juni opens on Thursday, November 28.