Overview
Melbourne is already home to one of the world's best restaurants, and it's set to score a few more notable additions when a high-end food precinct opens at the enormous new development currently being built at 80 Collins Street. The lineup already reads like a roll-call of Australia's best culinary talent with multi-level fine-diners and rooftop restaurants in the works.
Perhaps the most anticipated resident will be the next iteration of Vicki Wild and Martin Benn's world-renowned Sydney restaurant Sepia, which closed its doors in the Harbour City last year after the twop announced they would be moving to Melbourne in 2017. They're teaming up with Melbourne restaurant heavyweight Chris Lucas (Chin Chin, Kisume, Hawker Hall) to create 80 Collins' headline food offering, with plans for some boldly creative hospitality venues destined to put the development firmly on the map.
Exactly what the team is planning to do with the new restaurant has been kept under wraps, but, given the luxury nature of the $800 million development, it's going to be a big deal. The venue will take up 2000 square metres over multiple levels within the building and boast terraces and sweeping views over the city.
Christ Lucas, Martin Benn and Vicki Wild.
And today it has been announced that acclaimed Pastuso chef-owner Alejandro Saravia will also be joining the precinct, with a paddock-to-plate restaurant named Farmer's Daughters. This one if also going to be big — it'll take up three levels, including a casual deli on the ground floor, a formal restaurant on the first, and a rooftop diner and urban farm. Here, you'll be able to eat from a mostly preserved and fermented menu among the venue's herb gardens and greenhouses.
Born of Saravia's passion for the Gippsland region — he's the area's 'official food and beverage ambassador' — the eatery's set to be a showcase of its finest offerings, from fresh produce to award-winning wines. This one will be an all-day affair, serving morning lattes right through to late-night libations.
The giant 80 Collins development is going up on the site of the heritage-listed Le Louvre building, on the corner of Collins and Exhibition Streets. The high-rise, along with a newly refurbished commercial tower on the same block, will boast a futuristic new office tower, a 255-room boutique hotel and a luxury retail offering alongside the hospitality precinct. It's set for completion in 2020.