Mid Air rooftop restaurant opens in Melbourne CBD

Melbourne has a rooftop bar for virtually every mood, but restaurants among the clouds are rarer. Mid Air, a terracotta and brick beauty 12 storeys above Russell Street, enhances the city’s dining-in-the-sky options. Part of new boutique hotel Melbourne Place, the crafty-cool restaurant and bar is now open for early bird breakfast through to post-dinner drinks with the city’s lights glittering around you.

The Good Food Guide’s Young Chef of the Year in 2023, Nick Deligiannis, has written a menu that taps into his Greek heritage and fine-dining training at venues including Jacques Reymond and Audrey’s, with a few playful curveballs thrown in.

“I’m highlighting what I’ve grown up eating, but I [also] wanted things that people could relate to,” he says.

Attached to a 191-room hotel and located a few blocks from theatres, music venues and sporting grounds, Mid Air is about approachability over formal dining, with a day-to-night menu heavy on single-bite snacks, skewers and small plates.

Here’s the low-down on what to order and which seat to pick for the best views.

What to eat:

Deligiannis has raided the snack memories of your childhood for key parts of the menu. There’s a honey-joy sundae, potato wedges with sour cream and sweet-chilli caramel, and a riff on lamb doner. You could have a fun time with these, a couple of spanner crab roesti, and a cocktail or two. But there’s plenty more to explore.

Whiting from Corner Inlet is paired with a rich and salty sauce inspired by kakavia, a Greek fishermen’s stew. Charcoal-grilled octopus skewers (one of four skewer options) are finished with a sauce the chef created in honour of his dad’s favourite Greek stew, stifado, which is made with tomato, red wine and onion. And a giant pork chop − dubbed a tomapork − is a fun alternative to the big steaks seen all over town.

What to drink:

Coconut, lime, pineapple and other tropical ingredients are sprinkled throughout this good-times cocktail list. Pina Punch, a clarified milk punch, is all about the Pina Colada’s resort flavours without the creaminess. The Margie’s highball is a smoky number, made with Peloton de la Muerte mezcal, capsicum, pineapple and lime. Topped with soda, it’s not as boozy as you might expect. The best part might be the rim dusted with “gyros spice”, which was deliciously reminiscent of Barbecue Shapes.

Where to sit:

You’ll want a table along the west-facing wall on a sunny day to get the best view of the city. But the large, low booths that sit inside the venue are mighty inviting. The inside-outside space features tones of terracotta, bottle green, cream and sapphire blue with lots of canvas, tiles and brick adding to the Arts and Crafts look by Kennedy Nolan. Huge portholes in one brick wall act as a window onto the city’s north.

The extras:

The power breakfast set will be happy to hear that there’s another option in the city for pre-8am omelettes and breakfast focaccia. Mid Air’s breakfast starts at 6.30am and is open to hotel guests and the public. Grilled crumpets topped with spanner crab and brown butter hollandaise might be the pick of the menu.

On weekends, brunch is served from mid-morning. For a set price per head, you get seafood from the raw bar, Bloody Marys, mezze, cured meats and more.

And downstairs, there are two more venues to check out when they open in early December: Marmelo restaurant and Mr Mills bar, both by Sunny and Ross Lusted.

Open Mon-Fri 6.30am-late, Sat-Sun 7am-late

Level 12, 130 Russell Street, Melbourne, melbourneplace.com.au/midair