Franchisee Christian Candelori has opened the first El Jannah store in Canberra. Photo: Lucy Ridge. Lebanese-Australian chain El Jannah has gained cult status for its delicious charcoal chicken and famous garlic sauce, and now the Western Sydney institution has opened in Canberra. El Jannah started as a family business in 1998 in Granville, Sydney. Twenty-five years later, a second generation is involved in the business, and their charcoal chicken empire extends throughout Sydney and beyond. The first interstate franchises opened in Melbourne late last year, and now El Jannah has come to Can ..read more

Dan Zivkovich enjoys spending time at Charles Massy’s property, engaging with where his food comes from. Photo: Supplied. Who are you? Dan Zivkovich from Barrio. What is Barrio? We are a neighbourhood coffee bar on Lonsdale Street. We have a really great relationship with our customers, and now we’re working with lots of local producers and extending that relationship to where our food and coffee comes from. What’s a must-try dish at Barrio? Most people would say the corned hash toastie. There’s been a variation of it on the menu since we began, but it’s found its final form now. It’s local ..read more

Paul Eldon is now in the second year of his apprenticeship. Photo: Lucy Ridge. Muse is a cafe and bookshop with an active literary program at the bottom of East Hotel in Kingston. Like many hospitality venues around Canberra, they’ve faced staffing challenges over the years. Paul Eldon, who owns and runs Muse with his husband, Dan Sanderson, decided that one way to overcome these challenges was to learn how to do the job himself. “People are complaining at the moment about how difficult it is to find staff and they’re not wrong, but it has always been really difficult to get staff in this to ..read more

Crystal Leung and Pong Ma are the married couple behind Maji Japanese Cuisine. Photo: Lucy Ridge. There’s something of a foodie hub developing under the new apartment blocks in Campbell. Pizza, coffee, noodles, fine wine and more – residents hardly need to leave their building for their choice of meal any night of the week. Maji Japanese Cuisine opened in February 2022 under the Koben building on Constitution Avenue. Married owners Crystal Leung and Pong Ma opened the restaurant to showcase the best of Japanese cuisine, based on Pong’s many years of experience working in Japanese restaurants ..read more

Tiger Lane transports you to another world – and the food is seriously good. Photo: Lucy Ridge. The next stage of the hotly anticipated Tiger Lane has been unveiled with a grand opening of five hawker stalls and Chinese restaurant Mrs Wang. Last week’s launch event featured Chinese dragon dancing and drumming as guests got their first glimpse of the space. The urban streetscape buzzes with energy and light from the moment you step across the light-up floor. The street food space is a visual cacophony of neon lights, flashing LED screens and kawaii (cute) motifs wherever you look. Lucky Duck ..read more

How many random facts do you know about wine? Photo: File. What is rosé? What does it mean when someone says a wine is very ‘tannin-y’? Who was the ancient Greek god of winemaking? Test how well you know random wine facts, and at the end of the quiz, you can enter the draw to win The National Wine Show Dozen, a collection of 12-medal-winning wines from the National Wine Show of Australia. Every year, the National Wine Show of Australia assesses the gold and silver-winning wines of each state and territory, and narrows them down to the national stand-out wines. The 2023 winners will be announ ..read more

Visit Northside Garden Cafe! Photo: Kazuri Photography. North Canberra, Filipino deliciousness is at your fingertips! At Gold Creek, no less! Federation Square in Gold Creek, Nicholls, boasts several Canberra attractions: the reptile zoo, Cockington Gardens, a dinosaur museum, a lolly shop, a stunning Christmas shop, to name a few. And now there is Northside Garden Cafe, the new hidden gem of Federation Square in Northside, representing the Philippines in a modern but authentic way. This is the first business venture for longtime friends Lovelyn, Michaella and Clarisse, springboarding off ye ..read more

Across the road from the Canberra Centre and snuck into the corner of Founders Lane is the very new SeA Street Food. Photo: James Day. Who are you? My name is Huong Vu (Andy) and I’m from a small city in the south of Vietnam called Vũng Tàu, which feels a lot like Canberra. I originally came here to study at the University of Canberra, and after graduating, I worked as a store manager for over 10 years. What is your business? I’m very passionate about cooking, so me and my friend opened this store, the SeA Street Food, as our first business. We met in the kitchen at the Hellenic Club where I ..read more

Front-of-house manager Mirabelle Wagnon and head barista Nick Toze. Photo: Lucy Ridge. Roy Jr has recently opened on London Circuit west of the City Centre. It’s a burgeoning precinct with new office blocks and apartment buildings shooting up all over the place and Roy Jr is the perfect place for those new tenants to relax, work and dine. The space at Roy Jr is huge by Canberra cafe standards. There’s space for 150 people in the main restaurant seating area, plus a deck for alfresco brunches and a lounge area designed to encourage the business crowd to have breakfast gatherings, meetings ove ..read more

Ainslie shops, then and now. Photo: Ainslie IGA/James Coleman. It’s famous for the ‘Wall of Cheese’. Immaculately arranged fruit and vegetables. A collection of produce that spans more than 200 local businesses, including bread from Three Mills Bakery, prepacked meals from Italian & Sons, noodle bowls from Ramen Daddy and coffee from Lonsdale Street Roasters. But it’s also been there for such a long time. The Ainslie IGA is turning 60 this year, and they held a party on Saturday (20 May) to celebrate. Technically, the anchor store at Ainslie Shops started even earlier, in 1948, as a smal ..read more