Taittinger Kicks Goals

The FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 was a roaring, crowd-pleasing, game-changing success and KDPO was thrilled to play our part in such an historic occasion through working with the series’ official champagne sponsor, iconic champagne house Taittinger.

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Young At Heart
Hospitality

There simply cannot be too many easy-going venues that seamlessly combine drinks, food, music and art, which is why we’re ringing the bell for new Windsor bar Young Hearts.

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A Bagel Attraction
Hospitality

The bagel revolution reached Armadale with the arrival of Hank’s Bagelry in April. The elevated New York-style bagels on offer from the shop by the Beatty Group, the masterminds behind Copycat Bar & Restaurant and Mammoth Café, have become an immediate hit and established it as a must-visit destination for aficionados while making plenty of new converts to the bagel cause.

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Maha’s Big Night
Hospitality

Has it really been that long? June saw us wondering where the past 15 years had gone when Shane Delia’s acclaimed Middle Eastern and Mediterranean restaurant Maha celebrated its significant birthday (answer: the past decade and a half disappeared in a delicious whirl of silken hummus, fall-apart lamb shoulder and pomegranate-spike cocktails).

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Thrill at the Grill

The opening of a new Chris Lucas restaurant is always an event on the Melbourne hospitality calendar so it was a thrill for KDPO to help launch his latest venture, the very glamorous Grill Americano in Melbourne’s CBD.

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Fanfare for the Classic Pub

The imposing Orrong Hotel has been an Armadale landmark for the past 150 years, and locals (some of them lucky members of the KDPO office) are thrilled it’s had a new lease on life since its reopening late last year under new owners Scott Connolly and Matt Vero.

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The March of Wine

We’ve been long-time fans of chef Peter Gunn and his excellent restaurant IDES, so we were more than excited to help him launch his second venue, a wine bar called March. Right next door to his restaurant on Smith Street in Collingwood, March is an intimate, moodily-lit, Japanese-inspired ode to small wine and sake producers, interesting cocktails and exquisite bar food (we’re suckers for the sake-steamed pipis and the sweet-and-sour quail). The offering is pure Gunn with its perfect balance of creativity and flavour, with added drinks ballast from IDES sommelier Hayley McCarthy. 

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Turkish Delight in the City

Babajan, the exquisite little bakery and kitchen in North Carlton, has been gathering a cult following for its “Turkish-leaning” baked, fresh and sweet goods since it opened in 2016 on the corner of Nicholson and Pigdon Streets. Now owner Kirsty Chiaplias has spread the love to the CBD.

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HER to the Power of Four

It was a red-letter day when HER swung open its multiple doors in early February. Almost six years in the making, the four-level, multi-concept venue on Lonsdale Street in the city became an instant Melbourne landmark and the latest addition to our famous “vertical laneways”. A grand Victorian rescued from neglect by the HQ group…

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A decade of Chin Chin

Anyone who lives in Melbourne knows the city’s restaurant scene can be best understood in terms of BCC (before Chin Chin) and ACC (after Chin Chin).  For the past decade it’s been a party disguised as a restaurant – which makes it absolutely no surprise that the 10th birthday of the Flinders Lane lovely was…

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Patsy’s Charms North Melbourne

We relished the opportunity to introduce the world to the debonaire Patsy’s, a wine bar and meat-free bistro that swung open its doors, opened directly opposite the Queen Victoria Market on the fringe of Melbourne’s CBD late last year.

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Grand Slam Souvlaki

It was love-all when Melbourne’s iconic late night souvlaki institution Stalactites joined forces with the highest ranked Greek tennis player in history, Stefanos Tsitsipas – all in the name of raising funds for mental health.

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Stokehouse by moonlite

Iconic St Kilda restaurant Stokehouse got into a plate-smashing mood to celebrate Orthodox Easter this year, with a one-off dinner with its Executive Chef Jason Staudt and talented chef Matt Germanchis.  Matt is behind Anglesea’s acclaimed Fish By Moonlite, so it should come as no surprise that the night included some amazing seafood in the…

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Curiouser and curiouser

Melbourne’s most glamorous and mysterious new cocktail bar is Curious by name and curious by nature. Tucked away in a subterranean cocoon in Melbourne’s brand-new W Hotel, it’s the new address for the glitterati – which meant it deserved a suitably exclusive launch party. KDPO pulled together a guest list of movers and shakers from…

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Free to feed ready to party

KDPO has long been an admirer of social enterprise Free to Feed, which for the past five years has been creating empowering employment opportunities for refugees and asylum seekers while spreading awareness through shared food experiences.  So naturally we jumped at the chance to provide pro-bono help in May when FTF launched their fabulous new…

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Play it live and play it loud

Live music is back, baby! While virtual gigs sustained us through 2020, it’s great to get back to experience music IRL (real life… remember that?).  Following the phenomenal success of last year’s live stream event Live, Loud and Local, KDPO once again jumped on board with Coopers Brewery and Live Nation Australasia to promote live…

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Special delivery

Melbourne loves Providoor, Shane Delia’s premium delivery service that brings food from some of Melbourne’s best restaurants to peoples’ homes.  Providoor has always been much more than just another delivery app – as it proved conclusively with a recent series of virtual masterclasses designed to celebrate key dates in the calendar, including Easter and Mothers’…

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Hunted + Gathered + slathered

We at KDPO are firmly in the pro-chocolate camp, so it was a thrill to launch Hunted + Gathered’s new chocolate spread range, along with the retail release of their cooking chocolate. You’ve probably already heard of these cool kids on the chocolate block, but by way of backstory, Hunted + Gathered was started in…

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The Westin sets sail

The Westin Hotel has brought a nautical theme to its legendary High Tea. In collaboration with Four Pillars Gin, the boozy, seafood-themed experience is called High Seas and includes gin-based cocktails (like the 50/50, a mix of Four Pillars Rare Dry Gin, Lillet Blanc and orange bitters) and delicate and delicious finger food like curried…

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Ticking the box

Want a great example of successful pivoting during lockdown? Look no further than the successful collaboration between Melbourne bayside restaurant icon Stokehouse and legendary seafood wholesaler Clamms. Stokehouse chef Jason Staudt joined up with the Clamms folk to put together three boxes of premium seafood and BBQ goodies that could be enjoyed at home, on…

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Tasty collaborations

The beginning of 2021 has already seen some of our favourite clients presenting exciting new initiatives. Prahran Market cheese gurus Maker & Monger have collaborated with former MasterChef winner Diana Chan on a deliciously fiery toastie called the Sambal Hae Bee. Inspired by Malaysian dried shrimp sambal, the toastie has shrimp, shallots, lemongrass, galangal, chillies…

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Bird in Hand pops a cork

We were beside ourselves with post-COVID excitement when we finally got to host our first in real life event for South Australian winery Bird in Hand. Birds of a feather flocked together at our equally lovely client Stokehouse’s elegant private events space, the Palm Room. Enjoying stunning St Kilda beach views, fabulous food from executive…

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Johnny’s Green Room salutes the sun

The festive season was a little bit different last year, for obvious reasons, but we have become expert practitioners in the art of the pivot. Case in point: our annual Start of Summer lunch, which is held every year on the first Friday of December at Johnny’s Green Room. In pre-pandemic times, Johnny’s rooftop with…

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Aussie beach house on the Yarra

It’s not really summer until Arbory Afloat, the much-loved floating bar and restaurant anchored next to Flinders Street Station each year, announces its décor and flavour theme for the coming season. In previous years there’s been a Euro beach club vibe but this year, like the rest of us, they’re sticking a little closer to…

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Lakeside lovelies

The place to be this summer has been lakeside in Albert Park. KDPO helped the teams behind South Melbourne diner Half Acre and catering creatives food&desire establish a pop-up urban retreat that makes the picnic rug a chic accoutrement indeed. Lakeside at Carousel was all about giving event-starved Melburnians the chance to grab a COVID-19…

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