• Truffle season is coming. And at The Meat & Wine Co you can now get a limited-edition rib eye infused with decadent Australian black truffles.

• Vodka pasta is having a moment – but why? We ponder the enduring appeal of the creamy, chilli-spiked dish. Plus, where to find it in Melbourne.

• This weekend: a carnivorous collab at Hi Fi, with Chicago-style rare-beef sangas and bone-marrow gravy, and curly fries loaded with crispy pork and brisket.

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• First Look: Straying from the pack, Zaubertrank is an eccentric new wine bar by the Carwyn Cellars team. Visit for aromatic German and Austrian whites poured alongside punchy, lesser-seen Malaysian-inspired bar snacks.

• Athenian street food – including superb souvas and feta-loaded chips – is the focus at Kolonaki, a vibrant new spot in Malvern.

• This is the shockingly simple, anchovy-topped dish you have to order at one of Melbourne’s best new bars.

• Now open for lunch: Bar Bombay Yacht Club, Jessi Singh’s new jewel-toned, Indian-ish diner – with curry chips and $5 mini cocktails.

• Eight to try: a guide to Melbourne’s best kouign-amanns. They’re among the most indulgent pastries – shaped like a muffin, fluffy and layered like a croissant, and with a caramel shell like a crème brûlée.

• Every Sunday this winter, cosy up at Fitzroy North pub The Recreation with by-the-slice beef Wellington.

• “Now I can carry a taste of Pepe Saya butter around in my pocket”: Pepe Saya launches salted-caramel bon bons.

• Quench your thirst with a limited-edition “young hot Albo” pale ale by one of his favourite breweries. (After an excruciating election campaign, we deserve to crack a cold one.)

• Behind a faded pink facade, Cafe Piccolina continues the legacy of a corner store that opened in 1884.