Acclaimed Australian chefs compare Sydney, Melbourne dining scenes

Acclaimed Australian chefs who have established their culinary footprint in cities like Sydney and Melbourne are branching interstate to diversity their offering and grow their restaurant portfolio.

But what works in one major city, might not play out in the next as these restaurateurs reveal.

The farmer has a third daughter in Sydney – and she’s Latina

Alejandro Saravia’s Good Food Guide-hatted Farmer’s Daughter has become a Melbourne institution in the last five years, largely due to its consistency in meal quality and service.

Known for its Gippsland-centric menu, the formula hits the right note with diners who want to support local farmers and micro-businesses when they head out for a fancy meal. It’s a culinary approach that’s always seasonal and where patronage is growing.

In the heart of Sydney’s CBD, and located within the heritage listed GPO, is where Saravia has opened Morena – a new flavour hit that’s Latin American-leaning in its ambition to bring a Peruvian-inspired menu to the table.

In Melbourne, he’d won over the corporate and business clientele across two venues, including Victoria by Farmer’s at Federation Square, and the timing to move to Sydney felt right.

Alejandro Saravia of Farmer’s Daughter fame. Picture: Supplied

“The location is the key in Sydney for us. The GPO building at Martin Place is a Sydney landmark, in the heart of the financial district and tourists are all around – that’s the audience we want to tap into,” Mr Saravia told realcommercial.com.au.

“Morena is an elevated Latin American concept which is more suited to Sydney; they seem ready to embrace the Latin American food more so than in Melbourne which is why we went down this route here.”

Sydney diners also love a happy hour offering, yet in Saravia’s experience, Melbourne couldn’t care less – if they want a drink, they’ll turn up for it no matter what.

Weather also impacts how Sydneysiders dine – when the weather’s not great, they won’t venture, whereas in Melbourne, rain hail or shine, they commit.

Inside Morena, Sydney. Picture: Supplied, Arianna Leggiero

Saravia splits time between the two cities and admits the dining market in Melbourne is more reliable than Sydney.

“In Melbourne, it’s about doing food and beverage well without being too pretentious or over the top – it’s very classic and more refined in a sense.

“Yet in Sydney, people want to be entertained with table side service; they constantly need that entertainment on offer – they’re quick and fast. They push hard on the consumer offering.”

The dining formula is a mix of pre-fixed day time menus – more specials and tasting menus that come with three varietals. When it comes to high end wine, Sydney is out-drinking Melbourne diners at his venues.

Saravia has signed a 15-year lease at GPO Sydney – a chance to really give his hospitality venue a good crack.

“It’s a long time but it also gives you a good length of time to invest with a clear vision and a longer return, rather than try recover money in a shorter period of time – where we know in hospitality is not the case,” he said.

“Trading in the first three months of a new business is a honeymoon period for any restaurant.

“People come to the venue and you’re booked out, then it drops considerably and people move onto the next new opening – that’s the window you have to capture them with new offerings and give them a reason to come back.”

Saravia says Sydney has embraced Latin food culture more than Melbourne. Picture: Supplied

Cracking the Melbourne code

Having worked in hospitality around the world – including creating the menu on Qatar Airways business- and first-class flights – Sydney restaurateur and executive chef Ross Lusted opened his first restaurant Marmelo in Melbourne on Russell Street two years ago.

“People said to me you’re mad opening a restaurant in Melbourne, and that Sydney chefs don’t do well in Melbourne” Mr Lusted said.

“I never really thought of it like that, and it made total sense to come here and bring my lens of Portuguese to Melbourne. It’s not a forced narrative, and one that diners are keen to take on board.”

The San Pellegrino Young Chef Judge for 2026 and his wife Sunny also have the fine dining restaurant Woodcut at Crown Sydney – the one that then Crown owner James Packer asked him to open at the Casino back in 2020.

Ross Lusted of Woodcut fame in Sydney has moved down south with his restaurant, Marmelo, in Melbourne. Picture: Supplied

“I’d been working on Woodcut for five years in the USA, and would have opened a series in the States if it hadn’t been for the financial crisis,” Mr Lusted said.

“The fact that James loved my other Sydney restaurant [Bridge Room, closed in 2019] and asked if I wanted to open something bigger, I was like well… actually?!”

Melbourne restaurant marvel opens in Sydney

Lee Ho Fook’s award-winning chef and restaurateur, Victor Liong, recently opened his Sydney restaurant in the heritage listed Porter House in the CBD. He redefines Chinese cuisine through a modern Australian lens, and his decision to move to Sydney was to tap into the demand for Chinese gastronomy.

“In Sydney, Le Ho Fook takes more of a gastronomic focus; for us, it’s about seeing what’s new in Chinese gastronomy and understanding how I fit into the Australian dining landscape,” Mr Liong said.

Liong, who has also expanded with a larger restaurant footprint at Marvel Stadium, can now host up to 150 diners at Marvel’s Medallion Club. That’s more than double he can accommodate at his Duckboard Place restaurant off Flinders Lane.

Victor Liong of Lee Ho Fook fame is bringing his gastronomical Chinese talents north to Sydney. Picture: Supplied, Arianna Leggiero

And it’s also where diners can enjoy dumplings, which aren’t available at his original location – it’s that point of difference that keeps the palette chasers ever attentive to what might happen next.

The upgraded restaurant footprint at Marvel chimes on his two-hatted success at Good Food Guide too.

“At Marvel, Le Ho Fook diners want high-quality classic experiences. The dumplings are a hit here; whereas in Sydney we are more about share plates, larger dishes and classic flavour profiles that we’ve built in terms of our signature,” Mr Liong said.

According to Marvel Stadium’s CEO Scott Fitzgerald, knowing that Liong extends his culinary reputation interstate will no doubt do wonders for his placement at the sporting ground.

“At Marvel we’re trying to be the best of Melbourne and if you don’t have a really good modern Asian cuisine, then you’re not reflective of Melbourne and Melbourne’s food heritage,” Mr Fitzgerald said.

Household name heads north

Shane Delia, best known for his Melbourne restaurants Maha – named after his wife – and Jayda – his daughter – opened his first restaurant in Brisbane last year.

Layla is contributing to the burgeoning food scene in Brisbane, bringing a modern Middle Eastern inspiration to the table.

“There is so much going on in Brisbane; there’s a sense of hope, optimism, a stable economy and the Olympics is around the corner. The produce is top quality and it feels like a breath of fresh air to have a restaurant here,” Mr Delia said.

Shane Delia’s aim of opening in Brisbane is to avoid the echo chamber of Melbourne. Picture: Supplied, Jason Loucas

“I think when you’ve be stuck in the same city for a long time, you become restrained creatively. People expect a certain cuisine and it’s almost like you’re in an echo chamber.

“For me there’s been many freedoms that have come with having a presence interstate, and you become unshackled and cook food that you want to cook – without being under the culinary microscope of Melbourne. It has been liberating.”