Cheeseburgers, Pasta Bake, S’mores: Melbourne Restaurants That Elevate Your Favourite Comfort Food

On June 27, FX’s The Bear returns for season three, and we can’t wait for the pressure-cooker drama, the car-crash kitchen scenes and, perhaps most importantly, the food porn to unfold.

Though the show’s main character, Carmy, came up in the fine-dining world that gave us Noma, French Laundry and Eleven Madison Park, the dishes that resonate most with viewers are the approachable but immaculately executed comfort foods.

And while the meticulous approach of white-tablecloth dining is lauded for a reason, sometimes a cheeseburger hits the way a gelée, foam or spherified liquid never will. Particularly when left in the hands of a great chef.

That’s the case at venues like Andrew McConnell’s ritzy Gimlet, where an elevated burger has become one of the most popular menu items – alongside oysters, caviar and $100-plus mains. And it’s far from the only upscale Melbourne spot doing twists on classic comfort food. Here are a few more dishes to get your hands on.

If you’re after a taste of Chicago in Melbourne, look no further than Gimlet at Cavendish House. The 1920s-built building features lavish art deco interiors inspired by the Windy City’s architectural heyday and the glamorous old dining rooms of the US Eastern Seaboard. Dishes like Wagyu sirloin and half rock lobster echo the sentiment, but the restaurant’s $28 cheeseburger has become a sleeper hit.

Though only available after 10pm on Fridays and Saturdays, the burger is well worth a late (or second) dinner. Made with Gippsland-raised O’Connor beef and double American cheese on a potato bun, it has the quality you’d expect from an Andrew McConnell restaurant, but with all the nostalgic notes of a childhood favourite.

Marion, McConnell’s Gertrude Street wine bar, is probably not the first spot that comes to mind when you think of home-style cooking, but its vodka pasta bake is quintessential comfort food. The origins of vodka sauce are fuzzy (it may have Italian, American or Russian origins), but it was popularised in 1980s New York and given a push more recently by the success of the spicy rigatoni vodka at upmarket American chain Carbone. It’s simple at its core – just tomato, cream and vodka, in most cases – but at Marion it’s given star treatment, with house-made pipe rigate, a hollow, curved shell pasta, smothered in sauce and baked until the cheese crisps.

Crunchy, salty and slightly acidic thanks to a hit of vinegar, Navi’s fried fish skins take the components of any good chip and amplify them tenfold. They’d be just as well suited to your living room on movie night as they are at the Yarraville fine diner, though you won’t find them on the $185-a-head set menu. Instead, they’re exclusively available at The Lounge, the venue’s more casual, cocktail-focused sidekick.

Opting in to the set menu at Navi means a series of delicate, inventive small plates – like salmon roe macarons, emu carpaccio, and abalone with sourdough rye and sea capers. Its platter of petits fours is no exception, though you may be surprised to find the s’mores. Navi’s take looks more fine dining than fireside, but it perfectly captures the spirit of the graham cracker, chocolate and torched marshmallow sandwich.

A lot of restaurants serve tiramisu. But few do it quite like Chris Lucas’s brash, New York-inspired brasserie Grill Americano. It’s served with a side of theatrics, scooped tableside in hefty spoonfuls. The recipe sticks to tradition, layering espresso, mascarpone, savoiardi and a bit of booze, though there’s also a hidden layer of tempered chocolate to bump it up a notch.

If there’s one thing FX’s The Bear has taught us, it’s that sometimes the simplest desserts shine the brightest. And while sophisticated flavour combinations have their place, there are few greater comforts in life than chocolate mousse. Upscale Carlton pizzeria Di Stasio does a stellar version, served in a sundae glass and garnished with skewered cherries. On the menu, it’s simply described as “rich & delicious”, and that couldn’t be more accurate.

This article was produced in partnership with Disney+