Chef Mark Hannell and front-of-house pro Rebecca Baker are using their life savings to open Reed House, a new restaurant on Lonsdale Street near Caretaker’s Cottage at Wesley Place.

The menu at the 80-seat venue, Hannell tells Broadsheet, will be “modern Australian”, with nods to his British upbringing.

“There’ll be a fun British twist to the food. We really like places like St John, we really like that English brasserie-style – not fish ‘n’ chips,” he says. “A little more refined”, adds Baker. Drinks will be overseen by Baker. There’ll be a tight cocktail list and a focus on wines and sippers like mezcal and whisky.

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The couple are doing some small upgrades to the building, which dates back to the mid-1800s. Hannell says the space was originally built as a home for priests and was most recently a cafe, so it is already decked out with a kitchen.

They’re building a freestanding timber bar that will be the focal point of the room. There’ll be a service and seating area as well as two outdoor spaces for dining, including one that is covered, heated and overlooks the same courtyard as Caretaker’s Cottage.

Hannell and Baker have serious hospo chops. Hannell’s first chef job was with Yotam Ottolenghi’s group, where he worked for years before moving to Australia and joining the team at Andy Allen’s Three Blue Ducks group. He was head chef at their Melbourne venue until two weeks ago. Baker, originally from Melbourne, cut her teeth at Nopi in London for two years before moving back and doing stints at The Everleigh, Bar Americano and, most recently, as restaurant manager at Capitano.

It was at Ottolenghi’s Nopi – the celebrity chef and cookbook author’s London restaurant – that the pair first met. They’re taking lessons from the Ottolenghi group and applying them in and out of the kitchen. For food that means, “punchy flavours; not being afraid of crossing boundaries”, says Hannell. Adding that “how they run their kitchen and their business still has a big impact on us”.

With their shared experience and history, the couple seem to have everything going for them. But opening a restaurant is never without challenges, especially when you’re bootstrapping. “We’re doing it independent, so we’re not backed by a big group or anything, we’re blindly, stupidly –” Hannell begins, “doing it at the perfect time,” Baker jokingly concludes.

Ultimately, the pair hope to create a casual setting and while it is going to primarily be a restaurant where you can stay for a meal, Baker says they’re “quite open to people coming in and having a snack, having glass of wine and having us as part of their evening.”

“We always said that what we want to create is a space where it feels like you're coming over to our house for dinner. And this was literally a house … that’s the vibe we wanted to create the whole time”.

Reed House is expected to open at 130 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne in the coming months.