What we covered in Melbourne food and drink this week
• A first look at Vue de Monde and Lui Bar after the Rialto Towers venues underwent state-of-the-art renovations. Plus, scenes from the first night of service after the institutions reopened.

• Breaking down the perfect fresh chicken sandwich.

• Japanese cafe and lifestyle store Cibi expands with dedicated grocery and home sections.

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• A first look at Ghost Donkey, a new mezcal bar at Crown Melbourne (and exactly the kind of over-the-top bar we want from a casino).

• The Cinema Nova team are opening Fomo Cinemas, a food-focused movie theatre in East Brunswick, this December.

• Three new Japanese cafes to visit day and night, including Collingwood’s ochazuke hotspot and the new venue from the Ima Project Cafe team.

• An Instagram-famous cheese we’ve been hanging out for is (finally) available in Melbourne.

• Matti Fallon’s Mornington restaurant Colt Dining closed three weeks after opening, due to an electrical fire.

• We visit Co Bake Space, the playful peachy kitchen shared by two Aussie Instagram stars.

• Jessi Singh is opening a new casual Indian restaurant in the former Cafe Notturno space.

You might have missed
• Danielle Alvarez’s alchemical spaghetti alla Nerano recipe.

Listen up
• This week on Broadsheet’s podcast Around Town we talk about the Melbourne bar on the World’s 50 Best Bars list, unpack how to make a perfect chicken sandwich and where to find the city’s best, and sit down with top chef and Chez Panisse alum Danielle Alvarez.

More, please
• Cali-style Mexican joint Mission District in Ripponlea just started serving a new brunch menu. Stop by for chilaquiles (a Mexican breakfast dish of fried corn tortillas in salsa) and breakfast tacos.

• The Recreation in Fitzroy North has reopened after a renovation in the bistro’s 1870s building. The kitchen has been given a refresh and is now enclosed behind glass panelling.