The former Cutler and Society head chef has taken over the pans at the sibling bistro of Rocco’s Bologna Discoteca. Expect playful dishes that match the restaurant’s refined yet unfussy vibe.

Alexander took over the kitchen at the Tipo 00 team’s restaurant in May. “I’m often a bit off-script; balancing the perfect dish is like translating your imagination into flavour.”

“I think the pressure of running your own business takes a toll on you, so it’s a real relief to be in a place that has a management structure I can fit into.”

“It’s really about keeping the heart of Bar Olo the same while adding some new energy to the kitchen,” says Kalnins, formerly of Mulberry Group restaurants Molli and Hazel.

Plus, the Canadian chef still holds the record for the largest tuna ever spearfished by a woman in Australia. So don’t be surprised if tuna shows up on the Julie menu.

Fresh from stints at the world-renowned Bar Tartine in San Francisco and Relae in Copenhagen, the new head chef tells us what to expect at the recently relaunched Abbotsford restaurant.

Every 12 months, a new chef and concept will take over the new art-gallery restaurant. First up: a British-born chef with Michelin-star experience, who nonetheless wants to keep things simple(ish).

Geoff Marett spent five years at Hong Kong’s Michelin-starred yakitori restaurant. He’s now bringing his “elevated drinking food” to the laid-back North Melbourne beer hall.

Formerly of Carlton Wine Room, at his new gig around the corner, Tran is cooking vegetable-forward dishes that change almost as frequently as Melbourne weather

Executive chef David Boyle, formerly of Farmer’s Daughters and The Lake House, oversees the once pan-Asian Abbotsford late-night venue’s transformation into a New York Italian-inspired spot with made-to-order deli sandwiches for lunch and $20 weekday pasta specials.

At Clara Luna at Jamsheed, Hadid draws on their Syrian Venezuelan upbringing and experience at Gray and Gray, bringing dishes like deep-fried fish wings and the playful pairing of pippies and chippies (with a woodfired pineapple and green chilli sauce) to the warehouse space.

Los Angeles-raised Mark Tagnipez joins the DJ and restaurateur at the new Crown Riverwalk venue. “To put it simply, my kids eat Vegemite and cheese quesadillas. Whilst it’s a little more complex, Marmont takes inspiration from that kind of approach.”

He’s worked at Troisgros and Le Grand Vefour and grew up watching his grandparents prepare eel at their traditional unagi restaurant in Tokyo. At hidden Bourke Street restaurant Ishizuka, he says each plate “allows guests to experience the beauty of nature”.

Chef Michael Harrison has taken over the reins. “I’m not looking to change Albert’s.”

“Food really doesn’t have to be that serious. Some of the most enjoyable experiences I’ve had with food have been staff meals, dinner at friends’ houses or really casual dining spots.”

“Since having a handful of terrible mentors, who always led by instilling fear in the team, my goal has always been to create a better environment for my cooks to learn and grow.”

Di Blasi – who was also the head chef at Ezard – will take the “less is more” approach he honed at the now-shuttered Japanese restaurant to his menu of elevated nostalgic pub classics at the soon-to-open Springrock.

Taking over for superstar chef Rosheen Kaul is a big deal, but Lorcán Kan is up for the challenge and says he plans to build upon Kaul’s work. He’ll add a fermentation program, smoked meats like house-made Chinese sausages and a floral chilli oil parfait to the Brunswick East restaurant.

The Brunswick East winery’s new head chef tells us about the moment that changed his career and why quince is the “queen of all fruits”.

“I like to create dishes where you ask yourself, ‘How did that work?’”

We catch up with the chef, who was once invited to make a dessert for Oprah and has taken over the kitchen at the Fitzroy North bistro.

The accidental chef is bringing long Sunday lunches, pillowy focaccia sandwiches and his reserved culinary technique to the backstreet wine bar.

“I won’t serve anything that I wouldn’t feel comfortable sharing with my mum. Everything I create is designed for enjoyment.”

Horiguchi grew up in the kitchen of his father’s French restaurant in Kyoto. Since then, the omakase specialist has worked in some of Australia’s finest Japanese restaurants. Now he’s taking his love for local produce and immaculate service to the W Hotel.

“There’s a lot of joy to be had in honest cooking without reinventing the wheel, and we feel that customers are often thinking the same way.”

After spending 18 months as head chef at Cumulus Inc, working in a not-for-profit kitchen and starting his own cafe, Lokall, Dean Little has found his way back to restaurants. This time he’s cooking with fire.

Old Palm Liquor’s loose younger sibling now has its own kitchen and menu. And it’s a real mixed bag – in the best possible way. Expect Tuscan flatbreads and hand-rolled pastas but also laksa, duck lap cheong and sweet Malaysian glutinous rice balls.

After eight years at CBD institutions Coda and Tonka, the Singaporean-Australian chef has joined the lauded hotel chain’s Melbourne location. And she reckons you need to try her milk and honey lamington.

Sunda’s former sous-chef – and purveyor of wildly popular Indian takeaway in lockdown – is now heading up the kitchen at Prahran’s fire-powered Vietnamese restaurant. Think DIY banh mi and a skewer of the week.

One of NYC’s most sought-after restaurant reservations is at Carbone. And Melbourne has scored its former senior sous-chef, who’s dishing up saucy, spicy vodka fusilli at a recently opened Italo-American joint in the CBD.

This French chef – with Michelin pedigree – has just taken the reins at Andrew McConnell’s Fitzroy classic, fresh from a stint at Victorian fine diner Cape. We chat his globetrotting career, white asparagus and more.

The programmer, who has a soft spot for a classic Steve Martin flick and an impressive history of bringing new, engaged communities to festivals such as MIFF, is taking on a new role at the museum. Here’s what we can expect under Loebenstein’s watchful eye.

The co-owner of one of the state’s best fish’n’chippers, Fish by Moonlite, is swapping Anglesea for Lorne – and he’ll be heading up the kitchen of its historic pub when Sydney hospo giant Merivale takes over.

One of the country’s most exciting young chefs, she propelled Tasmania’s Agrarian Kitchen Eatery to new heights. But now she’s taking the reins at a snug new wine bar by a former wine buyer and sommelier for McConnell venues.

Initially brought on to establish the Flinders Lane eatery’s in-house cheese and charcuterie making, the gun chefs – from SA’s singular Summertown Aristologist – are now permanent fixtures. We find out what they’ve been cooking up, including a pistachio-flecked salami, an unusual miso-spiked dessert and a cache of house-made pantry staples.

Now presiding over the lavish Mornington Peninsula hotel’s fine diner is an Aussie chef known as much for fine-dining finesse as for fried chicken. It’s out with the set menu and in with a theatrical dining experience that “rewards customer participation”, and features a native spin on bolognaise and reimagined surf’n’turf.

After only a few months at its fine diner Laura, the Spanish-born chef is taking over from the formidable Phil Wood to oversee all three of the the grand winery’s venues.