Coming Soon: Seven Venues We Can’t Wait To Visit in September

We’re five days out, and September is already shaping up to be one of the biggest months for new venue openings. Here are seven new restaurants, bakeries and bars we can’t wait to visit next month – including two hot new chicken shops, the Caretaker’s Cottage team’s new bar and a Malvern bakery from a Dessert Masters winner.

Saadi, CBD

After three years of running Saadi pop-ups at venues including Hot-Listed Etta, Public Wine Shop and Manze, chef couple Saavni Krishnan and Sriram Aditya took up residency in the former Sunda space in May. The month-long takeover was so popular that it was extended until the end of July. The couple are now turning the space into a home for Saadi, which is expected to open during the first week of September.

The Indian restaurant will be part of Adipoetra Halim’s Halim Group (also behind Aru, Antara and The Hotel Windsor), but it’s Krishnan and Aditya’s vision. “At the start of this year, our one major goal was that by the end of this year we should either have a restaurant, or have something solid that we know is going to become a restaurant,” says Aditya. “For it to actually happen is pretty amazing.”

Sachi, CBD

After three years of fine-tuning at three pop-ups, seafood specialist Sachi is finally settling down. The team is putting the finishing touches on a 60-seat space at 179 Queen Street in the CBD, due to open mid-September. When the restaurant opens, there’ll be a mix of raw fish, catch-of-the-day dishes and a new sushi omakase. And fan favourites, including the chirashi and the marlin hambagu, will return. “The chirashi is our cornerstone, and the hamburg [steak] really sums up who we are. It’s a fun, unexpected twist on the familiar,” says co-founder Reki Reinantha.

Three Horses, CBD

Next month, Rob Libecans, Matt Stirling and Ryan Noreiks – the trio behind Caretaker’s Cottage – will open a new 45-seat cocktail bar about a minute’s walk from Caretaker’s. At Three Horses , the team is making space to play around. “While we want [Caretaker’s] to be an institution, we also have really strong creative urges that we just can’t facilitate at Caretaker’s,” Libecans says.

Cocktails will be “simple, bold and clean,” using three or four ingredients. “What’s in the market is going to dictate a lot of what we’re going to do,” Libecans says.

Kokoras, Yarraville

“I’ve always wanted to open my own chicken shop,” Alex Xinis says. When a vacancy popped up two doors down from his Yarraville restaurant, Tzaki , he knew it was his chance. When it opens early next month, Kokoras (Greek for “rooster”) will serve butterflied chargrilled lemon- and oregano-brined chicken with house-made flatbread and Greek lemon potatoes on the side. The 50-square-metre space, painted fluorescent yellow, will be primarily for takeaway with limited indoor and outdoor seating.

Yang Thai, St Kilda

Former Earth Angels chef Narit Kimsat and Waxflower co-founder Jimmy Pham are behind Yang Thai, a chicken shop that will serve mostly – but not strictly – southern Thai food. When the shop opens, you’ll be able to choose from turmeric chicken (available whole, halved or quartered), grilled whole fish and grilled tofu. On the side, there’ll be house-made curry puffs, som tum with salted egg and khao yum (Thai blue-rice salad).

Butter Days Bakery, Malvern

Pastry chef John Demetrios has worked at some of the world’s best fine-dining restaurants, including Vue de Monde and the now-closed two-Michelin-starred restaurant Oaxen Krog in Sweden – where he met his wife, ex- Embla sommelier Martina Cissig Demetrios.

But it wasn’t until John won Dessert Masters that he had the confidence – and $100,000 prize money – to open a bakery. Butter Days Bakery will open opposite Yo-Chi on Glenferrie Road, Malvern. There’ll be quality coffee; laminated morning pastries; grab-and-go lunches which could be sandwiches, quiches and salads; and afternoon desserts – bakery-style sweets that he says will have “a little more finesse than the morning stuff”.

He’ll develop breads especially for the savoury items, making sure to pair the right style of bread with different fillings, and wants to revive some Aussie baker classics such as the vanilla slice. But the hero will be the sunshine bun: malted savoury danish dough filled with custard. “It’s a sweet item, but it’s got a bit of character,” John adds.

Baker Bleu, South Yarra

Seven months after opening its biggest store yet , sourdough maker Baker Bleu will open one of its smallest, in South Yarra.

The team has taken over the former Baker D Chirico site on Domain Road, just across from the Royal Botanic Gardens’ Southern Lawn. The new store, expected to open in September, will have fresh sandwiches assembled on-site as well as the Caulfield North-baked loaves, cinnamon scrolls and country roll wheels the bakery is known for.

While toasted sandwiches remain exclusive to the Cremorne location, the new outpost will exclusively have soft serve – a first for the brand.

Additional reporting by Claire Adey and Elisha Andres.