Hugh Allen opens Yiaga in Fitzroy Gardens blending craft, nature and cuisine

Melbourne’s dining scene has a striking new addition this spring, with celebrated chef Hugh Allen unveiling his long-awaited first restaurant, Yiaga, inside the historic Fitzroy Gardens pavilion in East Melbourne.

Years in the making, Yiaga marks a major milestone for the 26-year-old culinary prodigy, best known for his leadership at Vue de Monde, and represents a deeply personal project that pairs fine dining with Australian craftsmanship and landscape.

“It has been a lifelong dream of mine to open a restaurant from scratch,” Mr Allen said. “There’s no better feeling than doing it right here in my hometown, surrounded by one of Melbourne’s greatest landscapes.”

Designed by John Wardle Architects, the reimagined pavilion breathes new life into a site that has been central to Melbourne’s hospitality history for more than a century. Originally built as tearooms in 1908, the building was destroyed by fire in the 1960s, rebuilt shortly after, and left largely dormant for the past decade.

Mr Wardle said designing the space alongside Allen was a rare opportunity to unite food and architecture in harmony.

The intimate 44-seat restaurant, including an eight-seat private dining area, opens onto sweeping garden views and celebrates domestic craft at every turn. Its centrepiece is a continuous wall lined with 13,000 handmade tiles, complemented by custom furniture, bespoke lighting and handcrafted Australian timbers – all designed to reflect the texture and rhythm of the gardens beyond.

Among the artisans contributing to the fit-out are Jon Goulder (furniture), Edward Linacre (lighting), and Vivienne Wong, who created a dining table from a fallen cypress branch sourced from the Royal Botanic Gardens.

Yiaga’s menu – a $295 multi-course journey – showcases Australia’s produce through a lens of innovation and sustainability. Dishes feature Gippsland dairy, Queensland coral trout, wild Victorian wakame, and beef from a retired David Blackmore Wagyu breeding cow.

Hugh Allen and head chef Michael McAulay will continuously evolve the menu through research and collaboration with farmers, fishers and foragers. “It’s about celebrating the people who make Australia’s produce what it is,” Mr Allen said.

The beverage program, curated by Master Sommelier Dorian Guillon, includes two wine pairings – an all-Australian list spotlighting boutique makers, and a classical Old and New World selection – alongside an inventive non-alcoholic pairing made daily by the kitchen team.

Yiaga’s branding, created by Studio Ongarato, is inspired by Australian flora, with the restaurant’s logo composed of collaged botanical forms that shift with the seasons.

The restaurant is also designed as a cultural platform, with plans for “Yiaga Sessions”, a monthly program of talks and workshops exploring design, food, and sustainability.

For Allen, the project represents both a culmination and a beginning. “Being born and raised in Melbourne, it’s incredibly special to open Yiaga here — a place I feel deeply connected to,” he said. “This project has been an incredible journey, and we’re only just getting started.”

Yiaga is now open for dinner Thursday to Saturday and lunch Friday to Sunday at Fitzroy Gardens Pavilion. Reservations for January and February open November 1 via yiaga.au.