This Melbourne restaurant is a love letter to Australia

The Australian food scene is difficult to define. Yiaga may have done it.

Australia's restaurant scene, at its best, feels like a melding of pristine ingredients, grown in some of the cleanest seas and soils in the world. Unique native foods, such as Sydney rock oysters, kangaroo, coastal saltbush and Davidson plum. Elegant, deeply thoughtful design. And service that combines sleek professionalism with a saltspray of Aussie humour and mateship. Yiaga, the newest project from Vue de Monde's Hugh Allen that sits inside a leafy parkland in central Melbourne, nails it all.

"I didn't want to do a restaurant that felt just like another restaurant," says Allen. "Everything from the architecture to the design to the tiles, furniture and hand-blown glassware had to be Australian. The food had to follow that theme too. [We had to use] amazing fishermen, farmers, divers and foragers. And although I wanted a tasting menu, I wanted it to be ever evolving."

At Yiaga, the menu is a celebration of Australia's natural bounty

The result is Yiaga, a passion project four years in the making, which has given new energy and excitement to the Australian fine-dining scene. Allen may only be 31, but he has worked at some of the world's most demanding kitchens – from Rockpool and Noma to Vue de Monde – since the age of 16. Yiaga is his chance to show the world what he can really do.

Boundary-free precision on a plate

Ask Allen to describe Yiaga's 15-ish course tasting menu and even he is somewhat lost for words. This isn't food that squeezes itself into any rigid parametres, or aims to tick off the traditional fine-dining tropes.

"We start with the producer and the product. That's always what the dish is based around. And it's not necessarily native, but it's ingredients that really thrive here," he says.

That could be retired David Blackmore wagyu, accompanied by steamed bread and green ants, the latter a cherished Australian bushfood that adds a citric tang. Or raw prawns from Queensland, sliced thinly and seasoned with a spice mix of dried galangal, ginger, garlic and mountain pepper, topped with blush-pink petals of torch ginger.

If you can define it at all, it would be classic European and Asian techniques, resolutely Australian ingredients and frequent Asian flavours – a hallmark of Australian cooking thanks to the nation's serendipitous Australasian geography.

Few dishes are likely to stay on the menu for long; Allen's energetic brain, along with that of head chef Michael McAulay, designs new creations constantly. But one has earned its place as a permanent fixture, the 'Gumnuts' petit fours. They were inspired by Allen's mum who collected around 30 of these bowl-shaped seed pods, from eucalyptus trees, on a daily dog walk.

"They looked just like little chocolates. So I sent them to a sculpture mold-maker in Bendigo [in central Victoria] and she made us little silicon gumnut molds of all shapes and sizes. We fill them with different things – strawberry gum and sheep's yoghurt. Caramelised white chocolate and wattleseed. Bee pollen and goat's curd. They just give the end of the meal a very Aussie feeling."

The restaurant is located in Melbourne's historic Fitzroy Gardens, on Wurundjeri Country  

The beverage programme, created by Dorian Guillon MS, comprises two alcoholic beverage pairings – one local, one classically old and new world – along with a non-alcoholic pairing designed by the chefs. A partnership with local brewers La Sirène is a highlight, as is the extensive selection of Australian amari, whisky and mead.

A work of art

The location, inside Melbourne's Fitzroy Gardens, echoes the old and new worlds created on Allen's plates. The park is home to several ancient elms, a hallmark of Australia's European colonisation. But around Yiaga itself are wild plantings of natives: bottlebrush, banksia and kangaroo paw.

The interior design was something Allen invested in deeply. He secured the services of John Wardle, a renowned Australian architect who had never created a restaurant before."I didn't want it to look like any other restaurant," Allen explains. 

The entryway is enveloped by thousands of handmade terracotta tiles that curve and undulate like a Red Centre sand dune. The furniture is made from brass, Tasmanian blackwood and leather crafted from the same kind used in rugged Australian mining boots. Some of the tableware was even fashioned from the same clay as the pitch at the hallowed Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Just 31 years old, chef Hugh Allen's CV includes stints in some of the world's most feted kitchens

Partway through your meal, Allen or one of his team leads diners through the restaurant to see its finer details: the handmade cellar, woodfired grills and ever-changing First Nations art. "It's all designed to tell a story about place," says Allen.

Community building

Allen wants Yiaga to be more than a restaurant. There's a plan in the works to start a series of 'Yiaga Sessions' events. First up is John Wardle, who will introduce guests to the works of various Australian craftspeople in a talk called 'Drawing The Many Strings Together'.

The idea is to hold similar events with artists, chefs, winemakers and leaders from all walks of life. "I want to use the space as more than just a restaurant. I like the idea of people thinking of it as almost a town hall for creatives," Allen says. 

A fresh new era for Australian dining

With Yiaga scooping the coveted Visa One to Watch Award, as part of The 50 Best Restaurants 2026, Allen hopes it encourages the world – both diners and those in hospitality – to take the time to discover exactly what modern Australian cuisine is today. 

"Yes, we have great coffee and good bakeries, but there's so much more," he says. "The produce and cooking can be as high quality as you'll find in some of the best places in the world, backed up by passionate producers and incredible Australian winemaking. We want the world to taste it all, and for young hospitality professionals to travel here to learn. I think we really know how to deliver high-end, creative and above all fun dining experiences."

The list of The 50 Best Restaurants 2026 (formerly The World's 50 Best Restaurants) will be revealed on Wednesday 4 November in Lima, Peru.