• Old-school breadbaskets. Salsa-verde-doused burrata. Garlicky spaghetti vongole swimming in oil. They’re all at Northcote’s Va Penne.

• Valentine’s Day ruined by lockdown 3.0? Take two at Chin Chin, Kisumé, Baby and more this weekend.

• Haigh’s and Indigenous-owned lifestyle brand Warndu are injecting native Australian foods and botanicals into chocolate. Think milk chocolate with finger lime and dark chocolate with Davidson’s plum.

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• Laura, Pt Leo Estate’s fine diner, has reopened – with a new look and a new culinary director. Get out of town.

• Long live outdoor dining. The city’s pop-up “parklets” are sticking around until midyear.

• These vintage-inspired recipe cards feature dishes from Marion, Capitano and more. The best part: they all get a cut of sales.

• Never ripped into a whole fried chicken? Neither. Now we can.

• A 10,000-square-metre “permanent food festival” is coming to Melbourne next month.

• That’s Amore Cheese is getting hyper-specific with its festival of ricotta on February 28. There will be gnocchi.

• Indu is Sri Lankan, but not entirely as you know it. There are hoppers with goat’s curd and pomegranate pearls, dosas with bacon jam, and more.

• Buy a beautifully designed recipe poster and provide 70 meals to Melburnians in need. Our pick: a blue-hued tuna tartare by Andrew McConnell.

• Cannoleria’s latest creation: bubble-tea-inspired cannoli for Lunar New Year.

• Beloved laneway institution Hardware Societe has closed its original CBD cafe “indefinitely”.

• Do your wurst at this new German street-food stall at South Melbourne Market.

• A Victorian winemaker is selling two-litre flagons of “Vino Quarantino” from $20 (with same-day delivery).

• Naro Baked Goods is delivering flaky, buttery pies across town.