Melbourne venues opening soon

To see the Melbourne Gastronome list of places that have recently opened, click here.

Your one-stop-shop list of notable Melbourne hospitality venues opening soon, updated as fresh information comes to hand. Links to further details/third party sources provided and any corrections or additional information warmly welcomed.

COMING SOON:


- Kiki Riki, 357 Smith Street, Fitzroy, 9416 0701 (Facebook, Urbanspoon): early November
Latin street food coming soon to Smith Street.

- Nuevo Latino, 553 Barkly St, West Footscray: 6 November
Coming soon to West Footscray: brothers Sal and Juan Rodriguez, originally from El Salvador, with their modern spin on traditional Central American and South American recipes. (Footscray Food Blog)

- Littlefoot, 223 Barkly St, Footscray (Facebook, Twitter): late November, council willing
Lauren from Footscray Food Blog got Western hearts aflutter when she alerted people to the bar opening soon in downtown Footscray. Littlefoot plans to feature acoustic live music, high-end bar food and share plates, boutique and craft beers, wines and cocktails.

- Hotel Lincoln, 91 Cardigan Street, Carlton, 9347 4666: November
Open since 1854, Carlton's Lincoln Hotel is temporarily closing for renovations then reopening with a new owner. Iain Ling (MoVida Aqui) has assembled a crack team, including Lachlan Cameron (Supernormal, MoVida Aqui) as chef, Emma Ramos (Le Bon Ton, The Everleigh) tending bar and Lachy Barber (MoVida Aqui, Cutler) selecting wines.

- Milk The Cow, 323 Lygon Street, Carlton (Website): November

- Five Points Deli and Longhorn Saloon, 118 Elgin Street, Carlton: mid-February
(TimeOut)

- Magic Mountain Saloon, 62 Little Collins Street, Melbourne (Website): September?
Chef Karen Batson (Cookie, Toff in Town, Boney, Colonel Tan's) is bringing her Thai-influenced cuisine to the former Bridie O'Reilly's site on Little Collins next door to Boney. As well as Thai barbecue, the venue will also serve Thai breakfast. (Good Food)

- Sweet Hellenic, 26 Cotham Road, Kew (Website): September
Hellenic Republic in Kew aims to open Sweet Hellenic, a traditional Greek pastry and coffee shop, in adjacent premises sometime mid-2014.

- Tokyo Tina, 66A-B Chapel Street, Windsor (Urbanspoon): September
The crew behind Windsor restaurants Hanoi Hannah and Saigon Sally are opening a third Windsor venue, this time directly on Chapel Street. Continuing the name trend, it will be called Tokyo Tina and will be Japanese/Korean, hopefully open later in 2014. (Broadsheet)

- The Saint Hotel, 54 Fitzroy Street, St Kilda (Website): October
Iconic St Kilda hotel The Saint has been closed for renovations for two years, but rumour has it that it'll be reopening in October, with a sidewalk cafe, casual bar, cocktail bar, nightclub and modern Thai restaurant. Chef Sean Judd, formerly at Chin Chin and Claremont Tonic, will run the kitchen.

- Hats and Tats, 78 Cecil Street, South Melbourne: September
Jason Chan (The West Winds Gin, Plenty) has taken over the old Southern Cross Hotel in South Melbourne and will be turning it into a dive bar with burgers, fried chicken and cocktails on tap. (TimeOut) (The Shout)

- Kappo, 31 Spring Street, Melbourne: September
Nama Nama will be closing in mid-August and reopening in September as Kappo. (Good Food)

- L'Hotel Gitan, 32 Commercial Road, Prahran: late September
Jacques Reymond closed his eponymous restaurant late last year (it's now called Woodland House), but has bought the former Hotel Max at the west end of Commercial Road with three of his kids. They'll be reopening it in September as a European-influenced pub. (Good Food)

- Botherambo, 63 Swan Street, Richmond (Website, Facebook): soon
The site on the corner of Swan Street and Botherambo Street next to the Corner Hotel had its glory days as Samantha's Pizza Heaven, but has been boarded up for some time. The good news is the site is being spruced up by architects Techne and will be opening soon as Botherambo, a South East Asian restaurant and bar offering hawker snacks, dumplings, cocktails and beer.

- Charlie Dumpling Junior, 212 High Street, Prahran: October
The original Charlie Dumpling, which opened just a few doors down in January 2014, is expanding to open a second premises at the site that was previously Vin Cellar. Charlie Dumpling will have a dedicated take away service, as well as a bar and cellar.

- Rosa's Canteen, 500 Bourke Street, Melbourne: October/November
Italian chef and restaurateur Rosa Mitchell is opening a second restaurant in the city in partnership with Dave Mackintosh and Pete Bartholomew, this time at the back of 500 Bourke Street next to MoVida Aqui and Paco's Tacos. Unlike the Sicilian-focused Rosa's Kitchen at the top end of town, Rosa's Canteen will have a broader range of Italian dishes. (Epicure)

- Cafe Del Mar, St Kilda: late 2014
Rumours that Michael Vale, founder of Sydney's Cafe Del Mar, might be opening a Melbourne outpost in St Kilda later in the year. A beach club with tapas.

- The Fat Duck, Crown Casino, Melbourne: February 2015
At the end of March it was announced that Heston Blumenthal will be bringing his entire Fat Duck operation to Melbourne for six months, starting February 2015, while his UK restaurant undergoes renovations. Fat Duck Melbourne will be at Crown, in the former Breezes site. Expect the Melbourne food world to go completely bananas.

- Lee Ho Fook, Melbourne (Website): early 2015
Yes, Lee Ho Fook is already open in Smith Street. But owner Pete Bartholemew has secured a warehouse in the CBD's Duckboard Place, opposite Tonka, so chef Victor Liong is getting an upgrade as the restaurant moves into town. Mr Lethlean predicts that with suitable investment, Lee Ho Fook Mark II could become the Melbourne equivalent of Mr Wong (the Sydney glamour den where Liong was previously sous chef). (First Bite)

- [Lucas Group restaurant], Chapel Street, Windsor: 2015
The Lucas Group (Chin Chin, Baby, Kong) has secured a site in Windsor that is at least the size of Chin Chin, spanning four levels. One of the rumours has it that it may become a Chinese Chin Chin, akin to Sydney's Mr Wong. We shall see. (First Bite)

- Boneyard Brewing, North Melbourne (Website, Facebook): soon
Chris Badenoch and Julia Jenkins closed their restaurant Josie Bones but will be opening a venue for their microbrewery venture Boneyard Brewing in a North Melbourne warehouse, hopefully later in the year. Good Food reports that there will be a range of specialty beers, a big outdoor beer garden and a couple of American-style offset smoker BBQs. (Good Food)

- Rue Bebelons, Fitzroy (Website): soon?
Many mourned when Rue Bebelons was forced to close its doors on Australia Day 2013 because of a building development, but rejoiced when it was announced in 2013 that the team is getting back together to open a new place in Fitzroy. No further details yet on when it's opening...

- Raw House, 99 Rose Street, Fitzroy: soon?
Owners of the Vegie Bar and chef and author Matthew Kenney are going to be opening a raw food restaurant sometime in 2014 in a loft space behind Vegie Bar.

Any other places opening soon that aren't on this list? Let me know!