Vue de Monde’s refurb isn’t the only big change coming to the Rialto Tower in the next few months. The Mulberry Group’s latest cafe, Square One Rialto, will open on August 21 in a space that formerly housed the Mercedes Me concept store.

The new venue is the flagship offering for Square One Coffee Roasters, the Cremorne roastery founded by Nathan Toleman, the pioneering operator behind Melbourne’s Liminal, Lilac Wine and Hazel.

Toleman’s goal is for Square One Rialto to help support and connect the city with Mulberry Group’s Common Ground Project – a regenerative community farm in Freshwater Creek, about half an hour outside Geelong, that provides education, training and career pathways for people facing disadvantage. And he’s tapped some serious chef talent from Australia and abroad to help.

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Every season, 10 different chefs will each contribute a menu item highlighting ingredients from Common Ground Project. The debut menu features contributions from chefs including Victor Liong (Lee Ho Fook), Nagesh Seethiah (Manze), hummus hero Tom Sarafian, Jemma Whiteman (Sydney’s Ante) and Nuno Mendes from London’s Lisboeta.

Toleman is excited to offer this talent the chance to branch out from their usual kitchens. “This is a great opportunity for [chefs in] our industry to collaborate and show some different skills and techniques that they may not normally get to show in their day-to-day roles,” he says.

But you won’t find the chefs on-site – the Square One kitchen team will cook their recipes, including Liong’s cumin-lamb pancake with Lanzhou chilli oil and garden herbs, or Seethiah’s wild-caught sardines with preserved lemon and lentil soup topped with herbs and leaves from the Common Ground Project garden.

After its first two years in business, The Mulberry Group plans to take all 80 guest chefs’ recipes and publish a community cookbook, with proceeds going to Common Ground Project.

Square One Rialto opens to the public on Monday August 21 at 525 Collins Street.

Broadsheet Access will be hosting an exclusive 10-course brunch on Saturday 2nd September for members at $65 per person.

As an Access member, be one of the first to experience Square One exclusively before it opens at our Editors’ Preview breakfast on Saturday 2nd September, find out more here.