• These are Melbourne’s best restaurant openings of 2020. How many have you ticked off?

• Know someone who’s had a hard slog this year? Nominate them to win a boozy, all-inclusive Christmas lunch (worth $700) from Andrew McConnell’s fancy butchery Meatsmith.

• Enter Via Laundry, the “secret” Melbourne restaurant in chef Helly Raichura’s own home, is heading to idyllic out-of-town locations for a series of pop-ups. Snag a spot before they sell out.

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• Christmas-ham season – arguably the best part of December – is upon us. Here are 10 of Melbourne’s best to order right now. Happy sandwiching.

• This is immersive art hit Rain Room in cake form, courtesy of Black Star Pastry. Look at those droplets.

• Scott Pickett is bringing caviar bumps, top-of-the-range Burgundies and more to a historic CBD building with Chancery Lane, his grand Eurocentric bistro.

• Lagoon Dining is back in action – with a few new dishes. Head to Carlton for crisp, beer-battered school prawns; sambal oelek-marinated pippies; and steamed eggplant with chilli-soy bean sauce.

• The Di Stasio empire is gaining a pizzeria. Soon, be transported to a Roman piazza in a Melbourne laneway (17th-century stone fountain included).

• Move over Farmers Union. St Ali is now doing iced coffee in carton form.

• Melbourne’s surfable wave park has a new on-site diner in a rustic shack. There’s spanner-crab scramble and Bloody Marys for breakfast; tomato-and-chilli mussels with garlicky Baker Bleu sourdough after midday; and non-alcoholic cocktails and beers pre-surf.

• Pop $65 bottles of Mumm French champagne at this new festive-season pop-up.

• Rock’n’roll icon Cherry Bar has taken over a treasured yet dormant live-music venue. Keep an eye out for Broadsheet’s opening story.

• What’s better than hummus? Free hummus. Here’s how to get it.

• A much-loved Melbourne cafe and community hub has closed for good. (And its vintage van is for sale on Gumtree.)

• A 38-year-old tofu destination has sadly met the same fate. Its last day of trade is Friday December 4.

• Shop the entire Four Pillars Gin range (including the limited-edition Christmas Gin and the new double-barrelled bottled Negroni) at this new pop-up.

• On four acres of rural farmland – at cafe Common Ground Project’s Saturday Sessions – expect woodfired pizza, loaded cheeseboards, DJ sets and more.

• Stuck for Christmas-present ideas? These bottled Espresso Martinis, Negronis and “Skinny” Margaritas come with customised labels.

• The Dandenongs’ Brick Lane Brewing has dropped three very sessionable new summer sours: passionfruit and guava, mango and lychee, and lime and pineapple.