Rumi restaurant launches Rocket Society with $8 Lebanese wraps by day, bar snacks by night

If there’s one thing chef Joseph Abboud knows about the regulars at his Middle Eastern restaurant, Rumi, it’s that they’ll always order the classics. “Nothing else will sell as well.”

So, while he’s relocated the beloved 17-year-old Rumi from Brunswick East’s Lygon Street to nearby housing development East Brunswick Village, all the signatures stayed put. But he’s just opened a brand-new venue where he’ll have more creative freedom.

In a corner spot next to Rumi 2.0, The Rocket Society is an easygoing all-day eatery and bar that’s more geared towards the walk-in crowd than its sibling.

“With all that’s happening atEast Brunswick Village – the shopping precinct, the [soon-to-open] cinema – we wanted a relaxed, all-day presence,” says Abboud.

During the day, The Rocket Society serves Lebanese flatbread wraps with fillings that dial up the flavour.

There’s poached, shredded chicken with chopped bastourma (cured, air-dried beef) and tahini mayo; beef kofta spread thin and topped with parsley, tomato and sumac; or the trusty trio of fries, toum (garlic sauce) and pickles.

Larger mezze will hit the menu in the evening, including kebabs threaded with chunks of lamb and sweetbreads, for a “soft, creamy finish” or bowls of hummus with varying toppings (perhaps the crisp remnants of Rumi’s famed fried cauliflower).

Al-sikbaj, a dish Abboud describes as the “the great grandfather of escabeche – from medieval Baghdad”, will be served at The Rocket Society as vinegared mussels tossed with saffron, honey and olive oil.

Wines lean fresh and fun in step with the food because, “most people are not going to order a big barolo to go with a bowl of hummus – but if you want one, we can get it from next door”. Meanwhile, Abboud says bar manager Grace McArthur wants to bring back the pina colada.

Make Good Studio is behind the 20-seat space, which has an entirely different vibe to Rumi. There are pink, red and blue tiles, timber panelling aplenty, and a large front window that creates an alfresco feel and encourages lunchtime takeaway orders.

“We’re planning to not have anything on [the menu] for too long,” Abboud says.

That experimental nature is reflected in the venue’s name, a reference to 2012 film The Lebanese Rocket Society about a space program in 1960s Lebanon.

Open daily 11am-late.

2 Village Avenue, Brunswick East, therocketsociety.com.au