10 new delis with a difference in Melbourne including Lenny’s Fine Foods, Stanley Street Bodega, Ima Pantry and Blakeaway

Thinking small is the biggest trend in food shopping right now. Small-batch curry paste. Small eco-footprint toilet roll. And, most noticeably, small and independent grocers where staff will pack your items, choose what goes on the shelves, and probably even make your toasted sandwich. The corner shop is reinventing itself for a contemporary crowd.

“We’re putting the petrol in the car again,” says Mark Fine, referring to the way petrol station attendants used to fill up customers’ cars. The former sports broadcaster has revamped Caulfield North institution Lenny’s with wife Natalie, bringing the 25-year-old Jewish deli into the “designer deli” era.

“It really is a feast for eyes and that’s what a deli is these days,” he says.

But the Fines have held on to a few old ideas that are finding new currency: exceptional customer service, hands-on owners, and home-style cooking.

At Stanley Street Bodega in Collingwood, great coffee meets convenience store in a densely populated pocket of the suburb.

“Asian convenience stores just fascinate me … I can spend a long time in there,” says owner Eddie Inostroza.

Believing that “every country’s got its own style of convenience store”, he’s created his own interpretation, combining his career running cafes, his Chilean heritage, and the things nearby apartment-dwellers seek out, such as wine and fancy potato chips.

Of course, Melbourne’s never been short of top-of-the-range food shops. A1 Bakery on Sydney Road is legendary, there are Euro delis galore at our markets, and dotting the suburbs are beacons such as Richmond’s Greek stalwart Laikon, Malvern butcher-deli Lewis & Son and, until recently, Italian specialist Enoteca Sileno.

The next generation is picking up these ideas and running with them, adding even more niche specialty items and high-quality food to eat there or nearby.

10 new delis with a difference in Melbourne

Lenny’s Fine Foods

The blintzes, chicken soup and gefilte fish are still there. But the revamped Lenny’s – a neighbourhood institution for more than 20 years – packs in much more than your average Jewish deli. There’s even a vegan version of its famous chicken soup. Come for ready-to-heat dinners such as green curry or lamb shank and barley soup, or a takeaway bagel bursting with beef brisket, made by co-owner Mark Fine. Brightly painted timber walls inlaid with backlit signage steer you towards smoked and cured fish (including 12 kinds of herring), treats such as Basque cheesecake, golden schnitzels and American deli faves such as wedge salad.

636 Inkerman Road, Caulfield North, instagram.com/lennys_fine_food

Stanley Street Bodega

In love with the high-quality convenience stores of Asia and the bodegas of New York, owner Eddie Inostroza created his own version in the thick of Collingwood’s forest of apartments. The retail edit is small but smart. Canned tomatoes, eggs and St David’s Dairy yoghurt will get you out of tight spots, plus there’s fun stuff like Chappy’s chips and fancy peanut butter. Toasties and pastries are the main fare but there are also chicken and chorizo empanadas from Chilean food shop Two Chiles in Windsor. All about community, it’s open later than many cafes (hello, 5pm espresso and beer on tap) and is also extremely dog-friendly.

R1, 72 Stanley Street, Collingwood, stanleystreetbodega.com

Ima Pantry

This is the corner shop many neighbourhoods would kill for. From the same owners as hit Japanese cafe Ima Asa/Yoru, this is a treasure trove of artisan soy sauce, yuzu kosho, Melbourne-made curry pastes, potato chips and kimchi, vegetables (all in season of course) and just about anything else you might need, including toilet roll. Toasties, croissants and onigiri (rice balls) are convenient for breakfast or lunch, or there’s a daily menu of okazu, side dishes to be eaten with rice. Customers are encouraged to bring their own bowls to reduce waste.

9 Duckett Street, Brunswick, imaproject.co

Blakeaway

Going from catering events to catering your day, Blakeaway (the offspring of Blake’s Feast caterers) has added two grocers to its growing empire. The South Yarra store sells everything from fancy crisps and designer homewares to tonight’s dinner: perhaps a wholesome chicken soup or a hulking lamb shoulder that’ll also do lunch tomorrow. In the city, office workers can sit down with their lasagne or grab a croque monsieur made on Bread Club sourdough to go. Before heading home, they might come back to grab dinner for one, vacuum-packed and ready to heat.

4 Avoca Street, South Yarra; 90 Flinders Lane, Melbourne, blakeaway.com.au

Ripe and Cured

All-Australian cheese shop Ripe has expanded its footprint at Queen Victoria Market, creating room to offer all things great and cured – from roo salami to rosy pancetta – alongside its impressive line-up of local cheese. Wheels are made by Section 28, Long Paddock, The Peaks, Bruny Island Cheese and more, and helpful staff guide you towards your perfect match. Killer cheese toasties are available (made with the stuff in the cabinet), with pastrami sangas and porchetta rolls joining the party on weekdays.

Shop 61-65, Dairy Hall, Queen Victoria Market, Queen Street, Melbourne, ripecheese.com.au

Grana

Why wait until you get home to tear into those pretty pink rounds of culatello (cured ham)? Or open that bottle of swaggering Jura savagnin? Perch at the central tiled counter of this deli-wine bar from the Tipo 00 crew and do a little quality control. Every surface is crammed with preserves, salumi, crackers, amari and wines of the world. Aussie and European cheeses come with confident tasting notes, and there’s even their in-house line, Whitlow’s Wheels, made by chef Lucy Whitlow. More substantial snacking includes marinated octopus, pizza from Figlia next door and a sweet tart that changes daily. True retail therapy.

331 Lygon Street, Brunswick East, granadeli.com

Ruben’s Deli

The tiled floors scream Parisian kitchen but the bountiful refrigerated cabinets are a worldly mix of trout gravlax, miso-roasted brussels sprouts, slow-cooked lamb shoulder, house-smoked pastrami and more. Truly a one-stop shop, Ruben’s helps shoppers rustle up easy midweek dinners, spreads for parties when a few corners must be cut, and the week’s essentials (including butter and milk). While you’re there, pick up a hulking sanga such as a tuna melt, chicken schnitzel amped up with pickled jalapeno or the obvious choice, a reuben on marbled rye bread.

Kings Arcade, 978 High Street, Armadale, rubensdeli.com

Mortadeli

Sandwiches? Check. Coffee? Check. Pasta bar? Also check. And then there’s the namesake deli (or alimentari, as they call it) of this unstoppable Surf Coast business. Occupying two shopfronts in a small piazza, it’s the place to visit when you want to fill the car boot with mortadella, pates and terrines, eastern European smallgoods such as kabana and kranskies, a dizzying array of dried pasta plus the fresh stuff they make for the restaurant. Pick up From Scratch Dough pizza bases, then go wild with toppings back at your beach house. Or grab a coffee or a cannoli (piped to order) while you wait for your roast porchetta sanga from the takeaway diner.

Shops 8 & 9, 4-6 Gilbert Street, Torquay, mortadeli.com.au

Smith and Deli

I can’t believe it’s not burrata. Or chicken. Or egg. These thoughts are common among customers visiting this light-filled space, which stocks everything any self-respecting European deli would, except it’s all plant-based. The deli showcases chef Shannon Martinez’s skill in replicating buttery pastries, deli meats, cheese and the other joys of life, and also has a menu to rival any Melbourne cafe. Ponder sandwiches toasted, fresh or breakfast-appropriate; four or five daily salads; puffy glazed doughnuts; and hot dishes including a pie floater. Add comforting frozen meals such as chorizo pasta bake to your shopping basket.

107 Cambridge Street, Collingwood, smithanddeli.com

Wild Life Superette

You may already know Wild Life the bakery, creator of 10/10 cookies, sourdough, and kimchi and cheese croissants. Meet its sidekick, named after France’s convenience stores, where you can get all those baked goods and fill your pantry with a peck of pickles, jams, hot sauces and tinned things. It stocks cheese from leading local and global producers, top-shelf teas and coffee beans, gifts such as cookbooks, and much more. It’s a danger zone for your wallet – but very exciting for your tastebuds.

365 Sydney Road, Brunswick, wildlifebakery.com