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Chin Chin owner to open Japanese restaurant in Flinders Lane

Nola James

Phillip Rich, Shaun Presland and Chris Lucas are teaming up on a new project in Flinders Lane.
Phillip Rich, Shaun Presland and Chris Lucas are teaming up on a new project in Flinders Lane.Supplied


Chris Lucas has set the wheels in motion for an as-yet-­unnamed Japanese restaurant at 175 Flinders Lane, almost opposite Supernormal, that's expected to open in March 2017.

Lucas, who owns Flinders Lane original Chin Chin, Baby Pizzeria and Kong BBQ in Richmond, and Hawker Hall in Windsor, is aiming for a high-end, but not exclusive, offering that's purely Japanese, "our attempt at creating a new style of fun, accessible, yet high-quality dining."

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He's enticed chef Shaun Presland (who left Sydney-­based Sake Restaurant in October last year) to Melbourne to head up three kitchens over three levels.

Presland, who is fluent in Japanese thanks to a stint cheffing through Japan in the '90s, knows his way around a sashimi knife; in 2000 he set up sushi e for the Merivale Group and in 2005 was headhunted by Nobu.

A split­-level main dining room at street level will revolve around a serious sushi bar ("no trains," Lucas says), and a "hot kitchen" in the basement level with combined seating for 150.

The top floor will showcase an eight-seat omakase-­style bar with a kaiseki offering, a sequence of individually plated dishes balanced by taste, temperature, texture and colour, as well as a couple of private dining rooms and a standalone watering hole.

Newly appointed wine guy Philip Rich (ex-­Prince Wine Store) is flying to Japan in November to nail down the wine, beer and sake list, and they're in the process of appointing a "sake master".

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It's an ambitious project, particularly as the site is currently part office building, part "reptile shop", according to Lucas, but it is in good hands; elite architecture firm Wood Marsh (they designed the EastLink tollway and the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art) has been appointed to begin work immediately.

This is the third proposed venture for the Lucas Group in the next year, with a Sydney Chin Chin headed for Surry Hills and plans yet to be announced for their recently acquired Smith Street location. Watch this space.

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