• We matched a dish to the mood of every month in 2020. October: babka. “Like a croissant on steroids, this Eastern European dessert and its striped, fudgy, brioche-y interior is just what we need for peak picnic season.”

• Six to try (plus some honourable mentions): Melbourne’s best bar openings of 2020.

• Reach Christmas-cake enlightenment with Ben Shewry’s boozy creation.

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• After 128 years, Melbourne’s historic Hopetoun Tea Rooms is moving out of the Block Arcade – and into a 161-year-old former bank. Famous cake display included.

• You and 13 mates could be the first to step inside an immersive projection cube for a private, $3500 dining experience (by the duo behind the Everleigh, Heartbreaker and Bar Margaux). Enter here.

• These are team Broadsheet’s favourite dishes and drinks of the year. (One bakery got three mentions – and with good reason.)

• Plain panettone is good. Gelato-filled panettone is great. Grab one here.

• South-side favourite Ilona Staller is closing for good this month. But the party goes on at its sister restaurant.

• Boozy slushies, woodfired pizza and all the sunshine: it’s Howlerwood, Howler’s new pop-up beer garden in Brunswick.

• What’s your yum-cha stamina like? Put it to the test at Prahran’s well-loved Chinese spot David’s, with unlimited yum cha and sparkling vino.

• Hella Good (Stalactites’ younger sibling) has opened a second souva spot in the CBD.

• It’s 20 minutes by chopper to Levantine Hill’s new Yarra Valley restaurant. And add beluga caviar onto this bougier-than-usual experience for an eye-popping $340.

• Get caffeinated and boozy at the same time with this new hard cold-brew coffee in a can.

• Rock’n’roll icon Cherry Bar has started a new chapter, with a fresh space and the return of standing-room shows.

• On Sundays, the vegan curries are all-you-can-eat at Jessi Singh’s Horn Please.

• Head to Stomping Ground’s massive new pop-up in Moorabbin for frozen passionfruit, lime and tequila “smashees”; Aperol Spritzes; and 10 different canned beers. There’s room for 500 punters.

• Twenty-five years after opening, Italian stalwart Il Bacaro gets a sleek refurb, returns to its Venetian roots and introduces an intriguing parmesan-infused Martini.

• Pioneering Aussie beverage awards Drink Easy are now accepting submissions for 2021.