Snack Bar: Con Christopoulos’s New Restaurant, Two Closures and More Local Food News This Week

What’s happening around town

• After opening its first permanent location in Hawthorn East last year, tiramisu shop Siora will soon launch a second site, this time in on Charles Street in Seddon. 

• La Belle Miette, the French patisserie on the top end of Collins Street, will close on Sunday, May 24, after almost 13 years on the street. The closure was announced via an Instagram post, with the team citing the building’s upcoming redevelopment as the reason for the closure.

• Hardware Lane sweet shop Pandan Dessert Bar, run by Lulu’s Char Koay Teow, is now closed. The Malaysian dessert shop known for cendol and ice kacang had its last day of trade on Sunday, May 17.

The Hot List

• Where to eat when you don’t know where to eat.

What we covered this week

• First look: at Con Christopoulos’s Roma, there’s no place like Rome.

• First look: Patricia’s second cafe proves the original concept was bang-on.

• First look: slow down at Interlude with fluffy Taiwanese sponge cakes and complex tea drinks.

• Four new and revitalised south-side pubs to sink pints at.

• Where Chefs Eat: Scott Eddington names Flemington’s best laksa.

• After a major revamp, a historic Malvern pub returns with the first of three new levels.

• Coming soon: what to expect at Dingo Ate My Taco’s new Abbotsford restaurant.

• Five to try: new coffee shops for specialty drinks, house-made bagels and small-batch gelato.

• Get a double scoop for $3.80 at Messina Mondays in May.

• Four to try: new CBD bakeries for sourdough, salt bread and “Melbourne-style cookies”.

• Melbourne’s Sri Lankan restaurants didn’t cook over traditional wood fires – until now.

• Pidapipo’s viral gelato hot chocolate is back for 2026 with a new matcha twist.

You might have missed

• What chefs really think about the Michelin Guide launching in Australia.

• Moon Bites at Rising, a dining series featuring pre-show and late-night menus, returns next week.