Three Hot-Listed Restaurants (And One Great Bar) With Excellent Service To Try This Winter

When you live in the southern hemisphere, your year begins and ends with the warmth and fun of the summer sun. The flipside is that, unlike our northern counterparts, the middle of the year is grim, cold and low on public holidays.

So going out in winter is more of a choice than going out in spring and summer. It doesn’t just happen spontaneously, you need to be intentional. And it has to be worth your while.

Often, the difference between a good meal and a great one is service. It’s someone taking your coat as soon as you arrive. It’s making sure the heaters are blasting if you’re sitting outside. It’s telling you all about the changes the menu’s made since moving from summer to winter.

Service still matters. And these Hot-Listed restaurants have the kind of service that make them worth leaving the comforts of home.

Marmelo

Ross and Sunny Lusted are a package deal. Every time the power couple opens a restaurant – from Woodcut in Sydney to much-missed fine diner The Bridge Room – they’re both given equal billing. The cooking is presided over by Ross, while Sunny looks after service and operations. Giving equal airtime to service is a crucial part of their formula for success. And it’s working. Marmelo, the pair’s Iberian restaurant within the Melbourne Place hotel, has been the most popular restaurant on The Hot List , week in week out, since its debut. For good reason. Marmelo’s service pulls off the same magic trick as the food: so excellent it feels effortless.

Kafeneion

Successful restaurateurs often have to deal with the tension between doing something new and keeping long-time customers happy. How do you get new people through the door without alienating the people who keep the lights on? Veteran CBD restaurateur Con Christopoulos – whose stable of venues include Siglo , The European , and City Wine Shop – thought of an interesting solution. Just do more. When he moved his popular Greek pop-up Kafeneion into the Melbourne Supper Club last year, there were fears that it would spell the end of an era for the storied bar. Nope. Not at all. It’s only made it better. The space below Siglo is still one of Melbourne’s favourite spots for a raucous time, but now it also has great taverna-style Greek food on the menu. Who says you can’t please everyone?

Byrdi

The contrast is so stark it’s almost comical. Whether you’re approaching Byrdi via Melbourne Central or coming at it from the bustle of Elizabeth Street, you’ll be taken aback by the calm and serenity when you step in. Inside, Luke Whearty, Aki Nishikura and their team are quietly delivering some of the best cocktails in the world. The drinks – which are typically inspired by Australia, and nature – are the evident star. But you’d do well to come here with a little bit of stomach room to spare: the food at Byrdi is rightfully gaining a devoted following of its own. It’s all tied together by brilliant service that will entertain and teach you about what you’re drinking without ever talking down to you.

Stokehouse

Stokehouse is one of Melbourne’s most vital restaurants because it doesn’t stop trying. It’s been giving maximum effort every single day since opening in 1989. Never mind the fact that it could easily sit back, lean on its fantastic St Kilda ocean views and keep playing all the hits. Instead the team is always tinkering – always thinking about new dishes it could do, or ways it could tweak existing favourites. During the Australian Open, a tennis ball dessert might appear on the menu for a few weeks. For Valentine’s Day, dishes might adopt a love-red hue. It’s the same story for the service, where good enough is never good enough. The team is always making small improvements and adjustments, even after all these years. That’s something to be stoked about.

broadsheet.com.au/hotlist/melbourne

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