Martini trolleys to mochi: A first look inside Melbourne’s mega new CBD food precinct

Down a laneway in the city’s eastern district, a huge $200 million office, retail and hospitality development is nearing completion. And two venues are already open to the public.A diverse new precinct for eating, drinking and venue-hopping is taking shape at the eastern end of Little Lonsdale Street, with the next stage of the 20-storey, $200 million Bennetts Lane development open now. The building soars behind 19th-century heritage brick facades and includes The Lane House apartment hotel, penthouses, offices, a basement bathhouse and a branch of Cobb Lane Bakery. Inside the new lounge and bar.Jason SouthJoining the mix is TiVo, a first-floor aperitivo lounge and event space that aims to merge hotel lobby bar, after-work meeting place and dressy social club. “We are offering something different and memorable,” says Dave Kerr-Burrows, general manager of Talisman Group, which owns TiVo, Mile9 pizza in West Melbourne and Casa Chino, a Peruvian-Chinese restaurant in Brunswick. “These days, people aren’t just looking for a drink and something to eat, they want an experience.”Central to the TiVo approach are three handsome food and drink trolleys, the brainwave of managing director Vincent Lombino, and hand-crafted from Mount Dandenong blackwood by local artisan My Little Workshop.“There’s complimentary prosecco and nibbles on arrival, then the martini trolley comes around,” says Kerr-Burrows. Liquid nitrogen is used to chill glasses tableside, and an ice stamp adds bespoke polish to drinks on the rocks. “It opens up a conversation,” he says. “You come in after work with your colleagues or you’re on the way to the theatre with your mum. You want to come again with a group of friends because the experience brings you back.”Restaurant reviews, news and the hottest openings served to your inbox.Sign upChef Eric Kwek is excited about loading up his trolley with chilled seafood, including oysters shucked in front of guests, and a prawn cocktail with deep-water Patagonian shellfish and Cognac-spiked sauce. “It’s almost that Prohibition-era idea, pushing a trolley from table to table, everyone dressed in a nice jacket and suit,” he says.The open, flexible space includes banquette and lounge zones, making it friendly for solos, and small and larger groups. Scoop-backed chairs are upholstered in velvet stitched with a leaping leopard design by Catherine Martin. The 70-seat lounge runs along the laneway side of the building, with peaked brick rooflines adding texture.Down below, in the lane itself, four hospitality sites are in various stages of completion. The laneway will soon become a parklet-lined strip, where traders hope to tap into the upbeat energy of this storied Melbourne pocket, once home to the renowned Bennetts Lane Jazz Club, where Prince played secret shows, and countless be-boppers earned their chops.TiVo, 17 Bennetts Lane, Melbourne, instagram.com/tivolounge. Open Tuesday-Saturday 4pm-late.Also at Bennetts LaneCobb Lane Bakery - open nowThe powerhouse Melbourne bakery brand kicked off Bennetts Lane’s food offerings in March, and is trading steadily with its sourdough, cookies and signature sausage roll, all baked on site. There’s a mini provedore here, and a few seats for tea, coffee (maybe a kinako ice latte) and sandwich chomping. The lawns and sunny seating spots of Wesley Place are just opposite. Love Cobb Lane? Stand by for their new Kensington shop at the Younghusband precinct.cobblane.com.auBakatori Yakitori Bar - opening last week of NovemberKorean hospitality group Vibecast has taken three of the four laneway sites. Closest to Little Lonsdale Street is a yet-to-be-named Taiwanese mochi shop with a focus on beautifully wrapped edible gifts. It’s a few months away. But Bakatori, a yakitori bar with a striking steam-powered lighting feature that looks like licking flames emerging from the central bar, is all set to launch. Chef Jun Pak, co-founder of hatted omakase restaurant Aoi Tsuki in South Yarra, is overseeing a menu of charcoal-grilled food on sticks, udon bowls and nabe.instagram.com/bakatori.auVake Bakery Cafe - opening late JanuaryNext door to Bakatori, this dine-in Japanese- and Korean-inspired bakery will serve shio pan (salt bread) in 20 flavours. The drinks menu will keep an eye on trending signatures from Asia: if a million people liked it on TikTok, you’ll probably be able to sip it here.Hugo’s Deli - open JanuaryThe cult Richmond sandwich store has a knack for going viral with creations such as its muffins stuffed with Cypriot sausage sheftalia and brand collaborations, so it will be interesting to see it shake up the city sandwich scene. They’ll be open nights, too, and bringing in DJs and local jazz artists to tap into the site’s heritage.hugosdeli.com.au10th Azabu - open FebruaryClove Group (Sachi, Atsu, Common Cuts) is working on an Italian-Japanese pasta bar concept for the heritage two-storey building that’s been retained in the precinct’s south-west corner, next to Cobb Lane.instagram.com/10thazabu.melbMore:Just openFor subscribersHot & newRestaurant newsFrom our partners