One of Melbourne’s most anticipated restaurant openings of the year is almost here.

Finally, on November 15, Rebecca and Al Yazbek – owners of Sydney’s well-loved fire-powered Nomad – are opening the long-delayed Melbourne outpost of their flagship diner: a restaurant and bar in the CBD.

According to Al, “It’s been a long journey for the Nomad team – relocating to Melbourne, multiple disappointments in regard to securing a site, a fire at Nomad Sydney, relocating back to Sydney, and of course a pandemic and subsequent lockdowns.

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“Most folks would have jettisoned the idea of straddling two states, but here we are, about to throw open the doors of Nomad for the good folk of Melbourne.”

A concealed entry on Flinders Lane leads to the lower ground floor of the Adelphi Hotel, where Nomad is just starting to fire up. The Yazbeks recruited local architect Clare Cousins to transform the long, narrow space into a suave, sophisticated 100-seat diner – absorbing the original concrete columns and beams installed in 1938 into the design.

Gun executive chef Jacqui Challinor will work across both cities, while Brendan Katich, who cut his teeth under prominent chef Teage Ezard, will head up the Melbourne kitchen. The centrepiece will be a roaring woodfired oven. “I wouldn’t go anywhere without my [oven],” Challinor told Broadsheet.

Expect charry, stretched-to-order flatbread, an exceptional in-house charcuterie and cheese program, and a few Nomad signatures: extra-virgin-olive-oil-doused burrata atop fennel jam; kingfish ceviche with avocado, finger lime and coriander crackers; and smoked mussels with piment d’Espelette (hot pepper), toum and a hash brown. Other than those dishes, Challinor says the Melbourne menu will be entirely new.

Nomad is opening at 187 Flinders Lane, Melbourne, on November 15, for dinner Monday to Sunday and lunch Wednesday to Sunday. Book online.

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