Melbourne's growing appetite for classic American food

It seems that Melbourne has always liked American food, but lately that culinary friendship has become a passion. The humble burger is proliferating and going gourmet, even under the eye of fine-dining chefs Shannon Bennett (Benny Burger) and Neil Perry (Burger Project). Perhaps more remarkably, unfamiliar Stateside pleasures have appeared, from Philadelphia cheesesteaks to a stampede of southern-style barbecue.

Theories abound about what sparked this explosion of diverse American fare. When our dollar outpaced the greenback in 2012, Australians flocked to the US and explored the food scene like never before. As media choices expanded, a world of US cooking shows opened up.

Recent travel restrictions, including carry-on laptop bans on certain routes, and negative sentiment about Trump's America, have left some Melburnians thinking twice about heading to the Land of the Free. In any case, it's easy to enjoy a different taste of the States every day of the week right here, starting with these favourites old and new.

Misty's Diner

When Misty Singer visited Australia to meet some cousins three decades ago, her holiday destination became home after meeting her husband here. She's been "cooking for the masses" ever since, says the Phoenix native, first for family, friends and acquaintances who clamoured for her American comfort food, then at her Prahran diner, which opened in 2002.

Pictures of Elvis and Marilyn Monroe, classic diner booths with mini jukeboxes, and a menu stacked with hotdogs​, burgers, wings, waffles and sweet pies have made Misty's Diner a crowd-pleaser. "I have customers who have been coming in here for 15 years," says Singer, whose hot-pink cowboy hat matches her sassy attitude. "I've had nine engagements here and three weddings."

She keeps customers coming back by doing classics well, and also by staying abreast of American diner trends: Singer returns to her homeland regularly, and avidly watches US cooking shows. Each dish has a Misty touch, however. "I'm the creator of every item, from my rib rubs to my sauces to my marinades." The current big seller is her deep-fried mac'n'cheese balls.

Singer is grieved that her Prahran diner must close soon due to the site's redevelopment. Misty's Diner in Reservoir, which opened in 2012, will continue, however, and another is planned for Moorabbin later this year.

103-105 High Street, Prahran and 765 Gilbert Road, Reservoir, mistysdiner.com.au

The Gem

From country music to cars, Tonino Cordisco has liked American culture since his teens. Taking over a Collingwood pub in 2006, he named it The Gem after Deadwood's saloon and introduced a honky-tonk feel, but six years passed before it became synonymous with American barbecue.

The catalyst was Cordisco's first US trip. "I tried barbecue in Austin," he recalls. "I had no idea that their barbecue was any different to what we call barbecue over here. I fell in love with it straight away."

The difference, he explains, is that while Australians prefer intense, direct heat, "the American style is low temperature, indirect heat and smoke, so it's completely different." Rubs and sauces are also essential.

Introducing southern-style barbecue to The Gem "seemed like a natural progression," says Cordisco. "The food really suits the venue." On Fridays and Sundays, when rockabilly, Western swing and bluesy roots bands play, "you could be walking in anywhere in the States."

A point of difference is that almost half The Gem's menu is vegetarian, and not limited to American barbecue standards like slaw and beans. This is partly due to demographics, says Cordisco, but also because "you don't have to have a kilo of meat … I don't like that side of America, the obscene portion sizes and that Man v Food show."

289 Wellington Street, Collingwood, 9419 5170, thegembar.com.au

Sparrow's Philly Cheesesteaks

​ After Philadelphian Geno Sparrow moved to Melbourne six years ago, a night out led to a momentous declaration: "I can't eat another kebab," he said. "I want a cheesesteak."

The definitive fast food of his hometown, cheesesteaks are hot beef-and-cheese sandwiches in long, soft "hoagie" rolls. "It's such a tribal sandwich," says Sparrow, explaining that dozens of places in Philadelphia serve them, each slightly differently. "When I was growing up, I went to Jim's on South Street."

Jim's cheesesteaks are the model for those created by Sparrow and the friend who heard his lament that night, Sammy Lynch. In 2013, after six months trying to find a baker who could make hoagies, and testing their efforts on friends, the pair opened Sparrow's Philly Cheesesteaks at Fitzroy's Catfish Bar.

They channelled what Sparrow describes as Philadelphia's blue-collar, in-your-face attitude by hollering diners' names when meals were ready. The tradition continued as Sparrow's expanded to an old FedEx truck, a St Kilda outlet and, since last month, at Hawthorn's Nevermind Bar.

While some Philadelphian customers say these Down Under cheesesteaks aren't the real deal, especially the unconventional Korean and vegetarian versions, "we've had a lot of Americans say it's way better than a lot of joints in Philly," says Sparrow.

30 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy, 240 St Kilda Road, St Kilda and 336 Burwood Road, Hawthorn, sparrowsphillysteaks.com.au

Po'Boy Quarter

When Michael Cotter, proprietor of Camberwell's Bar None and East of Everything, went to New Orleans in 2009 to investigate its signature Sazerac cocktail, he liked the food so much he opened one of Melbourne's first food trucks, Gumbo Kitchen. Named for Louisiana's traditional stew, its bricks-and-mortar sibling followed in 2013, and honours New Orleans' "poor man's sandwich", or po'boy.

This baguette-style roll filled with roast meat or fried seafood is topped with Crystal, the city's favourite hot-sauce brand according to Cotter, who gets it in "by the gallon bottle". Another special import is part of Po'Boy Quarter's very fabric. Distinctive blue-and-white tiles spelling out street names are embedded in New Orleans footpaths, so Cotter had some made for the walls and floor of his take on the Big Easy.

American visitors, who appear on a daily basis, like what they find. "That's one of the things I've been proudest of," says Cotter. "When we get people from New Orleans in they absolutely love it, we're constantly getting comments like best po'boy outside of New Orleans."

He says there's some education required for locals, thus the monthly five-course dinners. The next is a Louisiana-style Christmas on July 12, which will reflect the newly introduced menu's greater focus on healthier, more refined Creole cooking rather than what Cotter describes as "down and dirty Cajun." There's also a food-special-driven 4th of July party.

295 Smith Street, Fitzroy, 9419 2130, poboyquarter.com.au

Miss Katie's Crab Shack

When chef Katie Marron decided to start her own business, she looked to her American mother's side of the family for inspiration. Despite living on the other side of the world, the flavours of Chesapeake Bay are second nature after growing up eating fried chicken and waffles, and cooking her aunt's southern recipes.

While visiting the region recently, Marron joined her cousin in the kitchen. "I'd learnt to cook gumbo from the cookbooks her mum had written," she recalls, "so when we were in the kitchen together we cooked the same way. It was uncanny."

A North Melbourne pub became her unlikely American-style crab shack in 2013. After relocating to Fitzroy, Marron settled into the CBD's Ding Dong Lounge last year, where Miss Katie's Crab Shack snuggles in nicely with the venue's beer and live music. Next weekend's Independence Day menu has an expanded selection of Stateside favourites, including corn dogs, but the fresh-crab boil is the constant star.

"It can be a little daunting for people who are inexperienced," says Marron. "I find Australians don't know how to take the head off and get into it, so I've done a little bit of the work for them." Instructions are on the menu, while bibs and newspaper spread on the tables invite mess.

Level 1, 18 Market Lane, Melbourne, 9654 3549, misskatiescrabshack.com

5 & Dime Bagel

New Jerseyan Zev Forman was impressed by Melbourne's food when he arrived with his Australian wife seven years ago – except for the bagels, which he describes as "filled up with yeast, sugar and bread improvers, and they're steamed, so they're big, fluffy and soft".

Even in Melbourne's bagel heartland around Caulfield, Forman couldn't find any he liked, so spent weekends making his own in rented kitchen space and selling them at farmers markets.

Customers fresh from trips to New York enthusiastically compared his bagels to those from Big Apple institutions Russ & Daughters and H&H. "That was nice," says Forman, "but we also got 'These aren't the bagels I grew up with in Caulfield.'"

Nevertheless, they sold like proverbial hot cakes, so he opened 5 & Dime in 2014. Forman is hesitant to describe his bagels as New York-style, because "the protein in the flour's different here, but the way that we make them is the traditional New York way."

This three-day process includes long, cold fermentation, boiling and finally baking on boards. "There are very few places in New York that still do that," says Forman, adding that, both there and here, commercial production typically takes just one hour. He is also preserving another fading Jewish bakery tradition: the bialy, which has an indentation rather than a hole.

16 Katherine Place, Melbourne, 9621 2128, 5dimebagel.com.au

USA Foods

From cherry Coke to Old Bay seasoning, products essential to some of Melbourne's American-inspired eateries are sourced from a business that has been importing Yankee goodies for 21 years.

Soon after Brooklyn native Phil Bertino and his wife moved to Melbourne in 1993, they established an American-style sandwich shop where the imported drinks and confectionery proved so popular the couple changed tack by opening USA Foods. This little store led to larger and larger successors, as well as online sales, which now exceed 20,000 parcels annually.

"Initially we catered to expats, but now I'd say they're the minority," says Bertino. Australians are drawn in after visiting or living in the US, he adds, and are also inspired by television, from The Simpsons to American cooking shows.

While cereals and candy are mainstays, "over the years what's popular continues to change," he says. Currently the hot items are barbecue sauces and rubs. "Other people now import American products, including some of the big chains, but we're always the first. We do a lot of homework to make sure we're at the leading edge."

Being an all-American family business, USA Foods is closed on July 4, but Independence Day is celebrated today with free Buffalo wings and mini hotdogs in-store. There will also be treats and special products for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas.

67-73 Cochranes Road, Moorabbin, 8672 9100, usafoods.com.au

More Melbourne Americana

MAHALO POKE
Even America's Pacific island state is making waves in Melbourne as poke joints (pronounced "poh-kay") emerge. Be transported by Hawaii's Japanese-influenced raw-fish salad at this Richmond eatery. mahalopoke.com.au

BIG BOY BBQ
The Caulfield store, later joined by a CBD sibling, is where Melbourne's obsession with "low and slow" American barbecue started in 2010. Tip your hat to pioneer Lance Rosen before getting messy with some ribs and brisket. bigboybbq.com.au

BELLES HOT CHICKEN
If the nearest you have got to Southern-fried chicken is KFC, tuck into a spicy drumstick at one of Belles' three Melbourne locations, or try that curious American favourite, chicken and waffles. belleshotchicken.com

BOWERY TO WILLIAMSBURG
As the name suggests, this CBD cafe takes its design cue from New York's subway (albeit much cleaner), while the food, including pretzels and 5 & Dime bagels, nods towards its delis. facebook.com/bowerytowilliamsburg

LEONARD'S HOUSE OF LOVE
Eating cheeseburgers and Texmex fries with a Brooklyn ale is now unremarkable in Melbourne, but this unlikely South Yarra lounge's retro-rustic decor raises the bar. leonardshouseoflove.com.au

THE KODIAK CLUB
Named after an Alaskan town, this Fitzroy bar is serious about American bourbon, rye whiskey, craft beer, cocktails including mint juleps and Manhattans, and classic bar snacks such as jalapeno poppers. thekodiak.club