• Gimlet, Grill Americano and more: you can now score tables at 18 of Melbourne’s most booked-out restaurants, seven days a week. Here’s how.

• Bar Americano and Pentolina are teaming up for one last (big) hurrah before they both close – book now.

• Kitchen Hacks: Aussie seafood guru Josh Niland says if you stop doing this one thing, your fish will cook and taste better.

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• Prahran’s six-seat chirashi bar Uminono has moved from Greville Street to Chatham Street. In the spacious new spot, find beautifully presented chirashi bowls – and sushi and sashimi boxes – to go only (for now).

• Providoor launches same-day delivery: order by 1pm for takeaway meals from the city’s top restaurants. That includes Maha’s lamb soufra banquet and vegan offerings from Lona Misa.

• Top Paddock, Higher Ground and the Kettle Black have turned their famous hotcakes pink for breast-cancer awareness. Ten per cent of proceeds will go the Think Pink Foundation.

• Celebrate Diwali, one of the most popular festivals of Hinduism, with a huge Indian feast at Daughter in Law – with DJs, lights, belly dancers, and more.

• Richmond sandwich favourite Big Dog’s Deli is closing – but there’s still time for one last pastrami sanga.

• Three to try: Melbourne’s best new gelato and ice-cream shops are scooping Asian-inspired flavours. Cup or cone? Mochi-wrapped? In a slushie spider?

• First Look: There’s more than just Standing Room at the Melbourne coffee mainstay’s new Fitzroy North cafe. Including plenty of room to dine in, plus creamy breakfast congee and vibrant Turkish eggs.

• Lamingtons, but not as you know them: Sydney’s Tokyo Lamington has opened a Melbourne store. By an ex-Black Star pastry chef, the popular bakery is known for turning the Aussie classic on its head – with playful spins like black sesame, yuzu-meringue and fairy-bread popcorn.

• Opens today: a cult-favourite Japanese cheesecake brand’s first Australian store lands in Melbourne. Imagine a fluffy dessert – with no outer crust – that’s super spongy and melt-in-your-mouth light.