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Just Open: Empire Steak, Melbourne

Nola James

Empire Steak will be coming to a town near you soon.
Empire Steak will be coming to a town near you soon. Dean Schmideg

It's meat and salad in bread but it's not a burger. Melburnians – meet Empire Steak, a luxe fast-food sandwich shop that's the brainchild of high school pals Dean Sholl (who set up South Yarra's Pound cafe in the early noughties) and ex-pie maker Simon Donath.

The pair are on a mission to give the great Aussie steak sandwich the credit it has long deserved. "I love steak sandwiches," Scholl says. "I just think it's the greatest thing you can eat."

And he might be right; theirs are very good – 125 grams of lean porterhouse (grass-fed and sourced from a single farm in Coldstream) cooked medium and sandwiched between slices of white milk toast (there's multigrain too, but let's be real here) with onion jam, butter lettuce and optional (read: essential) extras like fried egg and cheese.

Empire Steak wrapped and ready to roll.
Empire Steak wrapped and ready to roll. Dean Schmideg
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No white tiles or edison bulbs here; with 20 or so seats the small dining room is done up in a late '80s milk bar vibe; it's all served in paper wrapping even if you eat in (don't worry, they recycle the lot) – a side of chips comes wrapped in newspaper (the Empire Steak Post – you should read it) and everything's Aussie – even the playlist.

Phase two of turning the humble steak sandwich into Australia's national dish is a second venue: they're about to sign on a South Yarra site for a more restaurant-style version of the brand. With 10 to 15 outlets planned over the next three to five years, we're pretty sure Empire Steak will be coming soon to a town near you.

Open Mon-Sat 10.30am-9.30pm.

61 Little Collins Street, Melbourne, empiresteak.com.au

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