Hector’s Deli Is Coming to Carlton

There’s no stopping Hector’s Deli. In early May, the brand will open its seventh sandwich shop, this time on Lygon Street in Carlton near Heartattack and Vine. 

Co-founder Dom Wilton has been vocal about his intention to grow the brand slowly. “We only want to go into neighbourhoods that we think we’re going to enhance,” he says. “Carlton has a demographic of food-centric people and artisans of craft. With that thinking, we feel the people of Carlton are going to appreciate us being there.”

The menu will be the same as at all Hector’s Deli stores, with everything produced at the central kitchen in Cremorne. But, as usual, the team has taken pains to ensure the new outpost will feel at home in the area.

The Hector’s at the top end of Little Collins Street, inspired by the hustle and bustle of the CBD, draws from old-school luncheonettes in places like New York and Chicago. For the Normanby Chambers outpost, designed by Studio Gram, the team went for a classic European feel. 

For Carlton, “we’re acutely aware how important it is to be accepted into the already booming community and the timelessness that already exists there. And that is reflected in the design,” says Wilton, who is again working with Studio Gram. “It’s not about putting big Hector’s signs everywhere and loudly announcing our arrival; it’s about taking that into consideration and taking that into the design.”

The site, formerly home to Milk the Cow, has been gutted “to make it feel more original and restore it to something indicative of the street.” There’ll be bar seating, soft, warm lighting and a lot of timber. The team has sourced vintage tiles and a “timber bench that looks like where locals could have been drinking espresso since the ’60s.” 

Hector’s Deli is expected to open at 323 Lygon Street, Carlton this May.