Four new venues to check out down Mornington way, an exciting new bar in a south-side warehouse, 70-plus events at Good Beer Week, and more – here’s what Broadsheet things to do editor Chynna Santos is checking out in Melbourne this month.

’Ninch newbies
While the Mornington Peninsula may seem like a place to visit in the summer, it offers a cosy escape in the colder months, too. And there are four new spots we’re keen to check out.

Start with lunch at The Bodega, a new deli, wine bar and store on Dromana’s main drag, where you can build your own charcuterie board, order prawn rolls or grab a picnic spread to take to the beach. Spend the arvo at beach-adjacent Banksia Wine Room, where you can order classic varieties or contemporary, minimal-intervention drops – there are around 10 available by the glass, or choose from 100 by the bottle. And if you don’t want to elbow your way through the crowd at popular dive bar Wowee Zowee for a taste of its fried chicken, you can now head next door to Rudy’s, the team’s new diner where they’re serving more of that ripper buttermilk fried chicken, plus buffalo wings with blue-cheese ranch, popcorn cauliflower and eight types of burger.

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There’s more than just food down there, though. At Dromana Habitat, an industrial estate that local makers, artisans and mongers call home, you can shop Japanese denim from a former Alexander McQueen designer, order a custom surfboard, join a candle-making class, buy brûléed goat’s cheese and order gluten-free beers.

Design of the times
Melbourne Design Week is back in a few days – and for longer than a week, it turns out. The annual celebration of Aussie design and architecture takes place over 11 days, with hundreds of events, exhibitions, talks, film screenings, tours and workshops to choose from. We can’t get to them all, but our hit list includes Hard, an exhibition of work by South Australian queer creatives about the joys of hunting through hard rubbish; a pop-up studio and exhibition by Aussie furniture label Tait, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisation Agency and community artist collective Numbulwar Numburindi Arts; a site-responsive exhibition housed in an old grain silo in the inner city; and browsing the stalls at Melbourne Art Book Fair.

And while not part of Design Week, we’re keeping the arts appreciation going with a visit to Anna Schwartz Gallery where sculptor Kathy Temin has hung eight plush, dusty-pink works made of a soft and cuddly synthetic fur. Control the impulse to stroke and feel the art (it’s very tempting).

Famous food folk fly from far away
This month, top chefs and food personalities are heading to Melbourne to chat home cooking, meal and dish inspiration, their culinary journeys, restaurant kitchens, and more. And, surprisingly, tickets to see three big names are still available.

Catch cookbook author and recipe columnist Alison Roman (famous for “the stew”, “the cookies” and “the pasta”) in conversation with author, journalist and TV host Benjamin Law for Melbourne Writers Festival; marvel at Nigella Lawson’s inimitable grace and poise while she chats to food critic and former Masterchef judge Matt Preston; and hear from renowned chef and White Heat author Marco Pierre White at the Arts Centre Melbourne.

Young at heart
The closure of Galah left a warehouse-sized hole in the heart of Windsor’s High Street. But last month a new bar opened in the same space, mending the south side’s broken hearts. Nic Coulter, co-owner at nearby Neptune Food & Wine, has brought life back to the airy warehouse with new venue Young Hearts. And it’ll keep evolving over the coming months, with a dynamic music and arts program plus rotating chef residencies. First off the rank: the boys at Freddy’s Pizza on Chapel Street. But there’ll be no pizzas here; instead the team’s serving Italian-influenced snacks like cacio e pepe croquettes, chicken cotoletta sandos, salumi and more. Plus, there’s house-made limoncello on tap. Chin chin.

Biennial Blak-out
Biennial arts and culture festival Yirramboi is back for another celebration of emerging and established First Nations talent all over the city. This time around, more than 170 free and low-cost events – by 300-plus artists and creatives – are taking place in 40 iconic and recognisable spaces around the city, from the heritage-listed Meat Market (with a festival hub named after Uncle Jack Charles) and the State Library Victoria steps to Mabu Mabu Big Esso and Golden Square Car Park. You’ll find us at Section 8 on May 6, when the festival throws a block party dedicated to the late and great Uncle Archie Roach.

Bottoms up
We’re hopping with excitement for this year’s edition of Good Beer Week, returning for the first time since 2021. There are more than 70 events to choose from, and our round-up of top picks includes a Torres Strait Islander collab between Mabu Mabu chef Nornie Bero and the crew at Stomping Ground, a party with a mechanical bull at Moon Dog OG, Deeds Brewing’s bake-off featuring cakes and treats with beer as an ingredient, and plenty more. Cheers to that.

For more restaurants, exhibitions, activities and pop-ups, check out our regularly updated guide of Things To Do in Melbourne.