“We always said when we created our place the one thing we’d like is to create a space that’s like coming into our home,” Mark Hannell tells Broadsheet.

It’s a common refrain among chefs and operators. But in the case of Hannell and his partner Rebecca Baker’s new restaurant Reed House – inside a beautiful bluestone building on Lonsdale Street, at Wesley Place – half the work making the space feel like home was done for them. (The pair’s laid-back warmth and charm help too).

Built in 1859, Reed House – right opposite Caretaker’s Cottage – was previously a minister’s residence, a boarding house and a rest home. Its homey qualities (there are cosy rooms, two gorgeous fireplaces and a red-carpeted private dining space upstairs) became the blueprint for the restaurant, which is named after its architect, Joseph Reed.

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“It’s like a heritage building, but it’s been modernly kitted-out inside, so we’re sort of reflecting that in the offering,” says Hannell. That means riffs on “old-school British recipes” like Welsh rarebit crumpets; Scotch eggs with gooey ramen-style soy-cured eggs, served with very British mushroom ketchup; roast chicken that brings bread sauce together with saltbush za’atar; and crisp chicken-salt-and-malt-vinegar-mayo potatoes. They sit alongside more cosmopolitan dishes like rye pici (hand-rolled pasta) with pecorino and macadamia, and cauliflower with tahini, blood orange and hazelnuts.

The English influence runs deep – informed by Hannell’s heritage, the couple’s favourite British brasseries like London’s legendary St John, and their time working in Yotam Ottolenghi’s hospitality group, including at Nopi, the celebrity chef and cookbook author’s Soho restaurant where the pair first met. “We found a shared love for big, punchy flavours and Middle Eastern food,” says Hannell.

The Ottolenghi group made its mark on the couple in other ways. “The way they treat their staff is big,” says Hannell. “There are people who work at Ottolenghi who worked there before I joined [in 2018] and still work there.”

“That’s definitely something we want to take from working with them,” says Baker. “We really want to focus on creating a good staff community here.”

“And not being afraid of flavour,” adds Hannell. “We don’t want to play it safe.”

That extends to the drinks list, too, where Baker (ex-Capitano, The Everleigh, Bar Americano) has assembled some left-of-centre cocktails, like the Builders Tea Punch, with rum and sugar. “It’s a little play on the British cup of tea made with Yorkshire tea, which I was strongly informed was the only choice for a builder’s tea,” says Baker.

“A couple of drinks are either my personal favourites or Mark’s favourite, which is a pomegranate-based Applejack drink that we’re doing a spin on – it’s fruity, delicious, a little bit tart.”

There’s also Stomping Ground lager on tap and a democratic wine list with a mix of natural, classic, international and Australian drops. “There isn’t a throughline beyond it [being] stuff we like to drink,” says Baker. “Tasty shit,” adds Hannell.

Knock one back in the undercover, heated outdoor area, which overlooks the same courtyard as Caretaker’s Cottage, or inside at the newly installed bar or one of two intimate dining rooms. “There’s 80 to 90 seats so it’s deceptively big but because it’s broken up into different rooms it feels quite cosy,” says Baker.

Reed House opens on Tuesday September 3 at 130 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne.

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