A Year In, Rintel’s Diner Is Still One of Melbourne’s Most Exciting Pop-Ups

Gitai Ifergan has a knack for activating underused spaces. In 2021, he and James Ness ran Jethro – a short-lived Mediterranean diner that popped up in a former sushi shop on High Street, Prahran. And a year ago, he teamed up with front-of-house star Babs Rapeport to launch Rintel’s Diner, a Thursday-night supper club serving Jewish diaspora cuisine to 85 to 100 guests each week out of East Melbourne Synagogue.

“The space for the diner is so amazing, but it’s also a very challenging space to run something out of,” Ifergan says. The set-up is a far cry from Maha and beloved, now-closed London restaurant Oklava, where he previously worked in the kitchens. “It’s essentially a glorified staff room.” But four slow cookers, two big rice cookers, a deep fryer and a small oven “that doesn’t get much use” are all Ifergan needs.

The small menu is “all Jewish, in a sense, but it’s also not; nothing’s too direct.” Starters – dips, salads and challah – include the classic Jewish egg-and-onion dip, which Ifergan says is a customer favourite. To make it, he scents oil with “bucketloads” of onions, uses the oil to make a mayonnaise and folds the mayo through the fried onions and chopped hard-boiled eggs. He just brought back Ashkenazi-style cholent, a stew slow-cooked over 24 hours with beef, potatoes, beans and grains that’s traditionally prepared on Fridays so it’s ready for the Sabbath.  

When starting Rintel’s, Ifergan and Rapeport were largely inspired by a meal shared at The Pontian Club when it was still operating as a pop-up in a Brunswick East building formerly owned by the Pontian Community of Melbourne. Running Rintel’s has been a way for Ifergan to “scratch the hospitality itch,” while completing an undergraduate degree in social work. He just graduated and starts full-time work in a few weeks, but plans to keep the diner up and running.

But unlike The Pontian Club, which is now a permanent restaurant on Smith Street, Ifergan and Rapeport have no plans to expand Rintel’s. They’re satisfied with what they’ve been able to do for the community. The certified kosher pop-up draws in both older and younger diners, with Ifergan estimating a 50/50 split in patrons from inside and outside the Jewish community. 

But “that community aspect, that’s been really important to be able to engage a bunch of young Jews,” Ifergan says. “Obviously, the political landscape right now is so fraught. It’s nice to be able to have a space where we just kind of have been able to hang out.”

Rintel’s Diner at East Melbourne Synagogue
488 Albert Street, East Melbourne (entry via side laneway)
No phone

Hours:
Thu 6pm to 10pm

rintelsdiner.com
@rintels.diner