Tastemakers: The Melbourne Restaurant Rosheen Kaul Books For Her Birthday

Rosheen Kaul is a chef (most notably heading the kitchen at Etta), James Beard-winning author (she wrote cookbooks Chinese-ish and Secret Sauce: How to Make Anything Delicious) and Melbourne local. She says what the city does best is casual elegance and that the scene has changed dramatically in the last decade.

“With all of our immigration, we’ve had so many more cultural influences, culinary influences, more ingredients we can cook with,” Kaul says. “Having such a range now of produce in markets, for example, is just a cool thing to have as a chef — we have access that we didn’t before.”

Two of Kaul’s fave Melbourne areas to eat are CBD’s Spring Street, home to Angel Music Bar, Café Neon, Spring St Grocer and Bossa Nova, and Carlton’s Rathdowne Street, where you’ll find Bistra, Bar Bellamy, Royal Oak Hotel and Florian Café.

“They’re just great little areas that have just the most Melbourne-y places,” she says. “Places that really feed into that identity of who we are in Melbourne. We love good coffee, a beautiful, succinct wine list and Euro-influence kind of food.”

Another feature she likes about the two areas is that they’re home to venues that are hard-to-find and hard-to-get-into. They’re down alleys and behind leafy trees. “They’re not screaming about what they do. They’re just there.”

Here, Kaul shares her top places to dine and drink in Melbourne.

Flower Drum

Kaul thinks everyone should visit Flower Drum at least once. It’s an institution restaurant in the CBD, serving fine-dining Cantonese. “It’s my birthday restaurant every year because it’s just a ceremony,” she says. “But it’s consistent. It’s been there 50 years.”

Her go-to dishes are the stir-fried pearl meat — Paspaley pearl meat with white chives — and the stir-fried abalone, made with seafood, soy, sesame dressing and mung bean crystal noodles. “The food is just perfect. The experience is perfect. You’ve got tot experience it once in your life,” she says.

Gimlet at Cavendish House

When Kaul’s looking to satisfy her sweet tooth, she heads to Gimlet at Cavendish House for its desserts. By chef-restauranteur Andrew McConnell, the restaurant is housed in a 1920s building with a cocktail bar and a brasserie serving a European-inspired menu.

“It’s the beautiful grand era of dining,” she says. “That dining room is an event, but you can just walk in and have a dessert, which is a really nice thing. But it’s a great place to really go all out for a meal.”

Kaul’s dessert of choice is the caramelised brioche that you crack the top of. It’s served with a bitter almond sorbet in a hollowed-out lemon. It’s textural and fresh, but not too sweet.

“All the desserts are really fruit-forward,” she says. “Amazing gelatos, really simple desserts.”

Bistra in Carlton

One of Kaul’s favourite dishes in Melbourne is Bistra in Carlton’s steamed mussels in sauce on fries. When she first ordered it, she didn’t realise the mussels were going to be presented on the fries, but it’s since become a go-to dining out dish.

“It’s this Melbourne bistro in Rathdowne street, and it’s just white tablecloths, incredible service but like super beautiful and relaxed,” she says. “A great little date spot too. Candlelight. Gorgeous.”

Tedesca Osteria 

Tedesca Osteria has one of the best atmospheres of Melbourne restaurants, according to Kaul. Though, the 30-seat restaurant technically isn’t in Melbourne – it’s in Red Hill, an 80-minute drive south of Melbourne. The venue’s Kaul’s favourite special occasion restaurant.

“It’s this stunning farmhouse escape where your table is filled with tiny plates, and there’s the most incredible wine cellar,” she says. “You drive there, settle in for a three, four-hour lunch. It’s a set menu — I think that’s part of the charm. You’re in their hands and they know you better than you know yourself.”

The menu’s based on the restaurant’s own biodynamic farm produce and what can be cooked in the kitchen’s wood-fired oven and grill. Fish and meat are sourced from some of the most ethical providers in the country.

Chef Diana Desensi

Lastly, a Melbourne food favourite of Kaul’s is anything prepared by Chef Diana Desensi. She had been hosting pop-ups in recent months, but will soon be head chef at upcoming Brunswick East restaurant Daphne, the newest venture from Etta’s Hannah Green, set to open in September 2025.

“There’s so much finesse and depth in her food, and it’s so much her story,” says Kaul. “I ate one of her dishes about a month ago, and it was these pulled pork croquettes with fruit on top. Having that as a garnish was just mind-blowing.”

Related: Tastemakers: Where Ultramarathon Runner Nedd Brockman Eats in Sydney

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