• Now open: Moon Mart, a joyous new pan-Asian convenience store and cafe, is a win for West Melbourne. And Melbourne in general. Condiment queen Eun Hee An of Sydney’s exceptional (but now-closed) Moon Park and Paper Bird is serving stellar katsu sandos, char siu bacon and egg rolls and the Japanese lunch set of our dreams.

• A 19th-century Ballarat mansion is now home to new boutique hotel Vera and stellar fine diner Underbar. The reincarnation of the destination fine diner has 14 seats and a mysterious menu.

• Brunswick bakery Wild Life opens a superette, or mini supermarket, in the old Harper & Blohm site. A supersized loaf of bread marks the spot, where the Wild Life team is honouring the cheese shop’s legacy by selling (and offering tastings of) topnotch fromage. Also find sourdough, pastries and plenty of house-made pickles.

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• First Look: Surprise snacks and a gloriously green outlook await at Kin, a new Victorian destination diner. Just over three hours from Melbourne, Rutherglen winery All Saints Estate has undergone a multimillion-dollar redevelopment. It’s set in an 1864-built castle, which now houses a new-look cellar door and flagship diner.

• First Look: On a Brunswick backstreet, Disciple is a chapel of coffee from the founder of Monk Bodhi Dharma. At the “coffee cellar door”, brews range from $5 to $200-plus and they’re all served black to let the beans shine.

• First Look: A suave eight-seat sushi omakase opens (and books out) in Kew – by an ex-Kisume and Komeyui chef. South Korean chef JangYong Hyun is flexing his sushi prowess in an unassuming strip of shops in the east.

• Melbourne’s new American diner is a smooth operator. You know the old-school, untouched-for-decades diners dotted all over the US? This CBD spot is a slick recreation of those retro relics. Go for syrupy pancake stacks, loaded brekkie muffins and filter coffee in classic diner mugs.

• First Look: The cannoli are piped to order and the gelato is top-tier at Northcote’s new Italian dessert bolthole. Elwood’s Bianco Latte has opened a late-night gelateria in an old nail salon. And coming soon: boozy granitas.

• First Look: There’s a rooftop, a dedicated Margarita menu and absolutely no gluten at Rufio in St Kilda. The team behind Elwood’s Repeat Offender has opened a lively new Latin-inspired spot on Carlisle Street.

• Fried-chicken eggs Benny or banana-Milo waffles? That is the question at Hamlet in Mount Waverley. The south-east has scored a new cork-clad corner cafe in an old milk bar, by hospo heavyweight Julien Moussi.

• First Look: Supercheese is Richmond’s new cheese capital. At this slick (but not too serious) shopfront, long-time cheese guy Jeremy Spradbery is selling classic and hard-to-find fromage alongside all sorts of crackers and condiments. Plus, the back wall looks like one huge piece of cheese.

• First Look: $25 for adults, $12.50 for kids – Serendib is Northcote’s new all-you-can-eat Sri Lankan diner. The buffet is colourful, aromatic and made up of more than 20 dishes.

• First Look: A trip to Verona inspired Bugiardo, a new Italian espresso bar and osteria for Camberwell. It’s got rustic charm, plenty of panini to choose from, and regular house-made pasta specials.

• Now open: new Bellarine bistro Tommy Gunns brings French flair to an old weatherboard cottage. An ex-Igni chef and an ex-Brae sommelier are firing on all cylinders at this charming new Barwon Heads spot

• First Look: Named after a Paul Kelly song, Leaps and Bounds is a cheerful new cafe for Albert Park. You’ll find spicy, buttery Turkish eggs and thick-cut French toast behind a baby-blue facade on Bridport Street.