Cote Basque Leads Eight New Melbourne Winter Dining Openings

The laneway at 25 Crossley Street will soon smell of charred fish and smouldering vine cuttings instead of Italian soffritto. By the end of winter, the former Becco site becomes Cote Basque, a 100-seat wood-fired European grill from Andrew McConnell and Jo McGann, channelling the smoke and sea of Spain’s Basque coast.

It leads a list of eight new restaurants, delis and pubs opening across Melbourne’s CBD during the 2026 winter months, as flagged by Broadsheet Melbourne on 2 June. The roundup includes a June sibling to Roma, a deli from Shannon Martinez, and five other venues yet to be fully detailed.

Cote Basque, set for a late-winter launch, reimagines the heritage laneway space with wood-fired cooking at its heart. Dishes will draw on the flavours of the Basque country – grilled seafood, charred vegetables, and meats cooked over open flame – in a dining room that seats 100. It marks a first for McConnell, whose portfolio includes Cumulus Inc., Cutler & Co., and Supernormal, but never before a dedicated Basque grill.

Sergio’s, meanwhile, will open in June directly adjacent to Roma, a long-running Italian favourite on the CBD’s edge. The new venue expands the same operator’s footprint, adding to a cluster of new Italian-inspired spots in the city centre. Specific menu details haven’t been released, but its proximity to Roma suggests a shared commitment to polished, accessible dining.

Smith & Deli will also land in the CBD, bringing Shannon Martinez’s plant-based deli concept to a new location. Martinez, known for the influential vegan restaurant Smith & Daughters.

Broadsheet’s list names five other openings, though details remain thin at this stage. The summer of 2025-26 saw a wave of suburban launches, but this winter the action is squarely back in the city centre, with laneways and repurposed heritage spaces front and centre.

When to book and what to watch
With staggered opening dates, you can’t just walk the CBD and hit them all at once. Sergio’s opens in June, so it will be the first chance to try the new cohort. Cote Basque won’t swing its doors until late winter – meaning July or August. Smith & Deli’s exact timeline hasn’t been locked in, but a mid-winter debut is expected.

Once bookings open, expect them to vanish quickly. New high-profile venues from operators with proven followings rarely have empty tables in their first month. If you want a seat at Cote Basque when the wood-fired grill starts running, set a calendar reminder for the week the reservation link goes live.

How to get there
All three named venues sit deep inside the CBD, where parking is tight and expensive. Tram routes along Bourke and Collins Streets drop you within a short walk of Crossley Street, Sergio’s, and the deli. Flinders Street and Melbourne Central stations are both under 10 minutes away on foot.

While you’re in the neighbourhood
Cote Basque sits a stone’s throw from the Princess Theatre and Chinatown. Combine a meal with a show or a lap of the NGV’s winter exhibitions, or check what pop-up bars and activations are running around Federation Square during the colder months. The city’s winter energy has shifted indoors, and new dining rooms are fuelling it.

For now, the countdown is on. When the first whole fish hits the grill at 25 Crossley Street, Melbourne’s laneway dining will have a bold new chapter – one that tastes of smoke, salt, and a winter well spent.