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Featuring new arrivals from Andrew McConnell and Chris Lucas, a double shot of energy for Chapel Street and two stellar regional openings, here is what’s landing before year’s end.
Big-name restaurateurs, neighbourhood wine bars and ambitious suburban revamps – Melbourne’s hospitality landscape is warming up for a huge influx of newcomers. Halfway through 2026, some of the year’s hottest restaurant openings are still to come. Here are the places to bookmark.
Arguably the most anticipated, Cote Basque is a European grill channelling the Basque Coast from serial restaurateur Andrew McConnell and partner Jo McGann. The 100-seat, wood-fired diner is slated for an August opening in the former Becco site on the CBD’s Crossley Street.
Meanwhile, Alejandro Saravia (Farmer’s Daughters, Morena Barra) will make another mark on the top end of town with Masia. This all-day Flinders Lane restaurant, showing a new side of the chef’s Peruvian heritage, will arrive in summer. Further details on the concept are still under wraps – as are plans for the nearby Antara site, where the Windsor Group (Aru, Kudo) is preparing a relaunch.
Moving to midtown, hospitality magnate Chris Lucas is readying two newcomers to anchor the dining precinct at the base of the new 435 Bourke Street development. The first is Noema, a sophisticated modern Greek diner that nods to Lucas’ heritage, opening in spring. The second, set for an October launch, is the Hong Kong-inspired Wishbone, a casual, all-day spot where chef Dan Chan – a Hong Kong native – is leading the kitchen.
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Come springtime, Romeo Lane founder Joe Jones (currently on cocktail duty at Rosheen Kaul’s Fitzroy pop-up Little Rose) is planning to open a new CBD bar. While he’s tight-lipped about the details, he says it’ll have “the exact same seating capacity and footprint as Romeo Lane”.
On the south side, there’s exciting new energy coming to Chapel Street. Late-night bar and grill The Frog Club – from the Gilson team – is slated for a mid-August opening. Expect seafood towers, roving desserts and a strong music program. Just down the road, Gayan Pieris (owner of the hatted Mornington Peninsula diner Many Little), will launch Agnii, a fire-powered Sri Lankan restaurant set for September.
Malvern is getting a new three-level Greek diner, Helios, in mid-August. It comes from the team behind South Melbourne’s innovative Aegli, who are expanding their footprint (while closing their Carnegie restaurant, Sowl).
In St Kilda, the Prince Hotel will enter a new era this summer when DJ-turned-restaurateur Grant Smillie (Marmont) unveils a new rooftop bar and restaurant.
In Northcote, the team behind Suze has taken over the former Vex site on High Street. It will reopen in September as a no-bookings spot for pasta and wine. Further north, the Roasting Warehouse family is preparing to open Filia, a neighbourhood hangout opposite the train station serving coffee by day and wine by night.
Beyond city limits, Daylesford will welcome new lakeside wine bar Leggatt Street before winter’s end, with respected local operator Winespeake transforming the old Book Barn overlooking Lake Daylesford.
And in Kyneton, Italian fine-diner Marchesa is mid-renovation as it transforms into modern bistro Ruhe. Meaning quiet and calm in German, it’s led by chef Rob Kabboord (ex-Quay, The Surly Goat) and Marchesa owner Daniel Saligari. Dishes will hark back to Kabboord’s Merricote days while spotlighting Central Victorian produce.
