**Longsong
** David Moyle’s Melbourne outpost above Longrain will be just as Thai as the ground floor but with the advantage of a leafy roof terrace, natural wine and a focus on grilled things on sticks. Moyle should be firing up the grill in February. Longsong, 44 Little Bourke St, Melbourne, Vic
**Long Chim
** Melbourne finally gets its very own David Thompson Thai restaurant with the arrival of Long Chim at the old Number 8 site on the waterfront at Crown. The Melbourne link in Thompson’s chain is expected to open in February. Long Chim, Crown Melbourne, Vic
Related: The best restaurants opening in Sydney in 2017.
**Wilson & Market
** Paul Wilson is opening his “luxe, younger version of The Bot” at the Prahran Market early in 2017. Wilson & Market’s kitchen will dance to the drum of a wood grill and European and Mediterranean cooking. Expect heritage meats, local seafood and heirloom vegetables all sourced, naturally, from market stallholders. Wilson & Market, Prahran Market, Prahran, Vic
**Chris Lucas goes Japanese
** Chris Lucas’s latest as-yet unnamed Melbourne venture will be a lavish Japanese eatery designed by Wood Marsh, spreading over three levels in a 1960s office building on Flinders Lane. Alongside Shaun Presland (the original chef of Sydney-based chain Saké) and sommelier Philip Rich will be two imported chefs, including a sushi master from Tokyo. Private rooms, a Chablis bar and an omakase table (we assume that means a fancied-up chef’s table) are also part of the plan from May 2017. 175 Flinders La, Melbourne, Vic
Related: our favourite dishes of 2016.
**Scott Pickett heads South
** Scott Pickett (ESP, Saint Crispin, Estelle Bistro, Pickett’s Deli) is opening his first southside venture in a new development next to The Botanical in Domain Road, South Yarra. The latest in Pickett’s ever-increasing stable will be based on his Pickett’s Deli & Rotisserie at the Queen Victoria Market but with “more of a restaurant feel”. It’s expected to open mid-year. 157-159 Domain Road, South Yarra, Vic
