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Lee Ho Fook opens at Marvel Stadium plus Wonder Pies and Contraband Coffee's new digs

Gemima Cody
Gemima Cody

Chef Victor Liong is opening a second Lee Ho Fook restaurant at Marvel Stadium.
Chef Victor Liong is opening a second Lee Ho Fook restaurant at Marvel Stadium.Supplied

While the timing is challenging, chef Victor Liong has opened a second premises of his contemporary Chinese restaurant Lee Ho Fook at Marvel Stadium. Large events are off the table for now, but the 150 seat restaurant and 50 capacity bar will also be open to the public on Thursdays and Fridays, plus weekends when events return.

That is big news for Docklands diners. The restaurant will be serving Liong's classic dishes from the original Duckboard Place restaurant, including sweet, crisp fried eggplant batons, and black fungi with aged vinegar, plus new, stadium-specific items including the char siu pork belly and slow-cooked wagyu short rib. marvelstadium.com.au/leehofook

Raymond Capaldi with his Wonder Pies.
Raymond Capaldi with his Wonder Pies.Supplied

​Wonder Pies, the boutique pie business started by chef Raymond Capaldi in 2017, has opened its third retail outlet on Langridge Street, Collingwood. Joining the factory door in Bulleen and the CBD's Wonder Pies and Deli, the core range of deep short crust pies with puff pastry tops is available.

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That includes the cult "Tradie", a pie inside a burger bun, and their dessert range such as the salted caramel apple pies. In case of shutdown measures, they will offer delivery from March 23. wonderpies.com.au

Contraband Coffee's new cafe, Strange Brew.
Contraband Coffee's new cafe, Strange Brew.Dominic Ronzo

Finally, from Brunswick to Brunswick Street, Strange Brew Coffee is a new espresso bar from the team behind Contraband Coffee Company. The slim, powder blue space at 180 Brunswick Street, sparely decorated by bags of their specialist roasts, was designed by Pop Architecture.

Those brews come in most forms from filter to bottomless batch brew for $5. The menu consists of cakes and pastries from local stores plus rotating baguettes from South Melbourne bakery for $10.

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Gemima CodyGemima Cody is former chief restaurant critic for The Age and Good Food.

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