Marjorie Tenchavez is a refugee rights advocate turned social entrepreneur. Having worked at organisations such as Amnesty International Australia and Metro Assist, in 2020 she turned her passion for bringing people together through food into a social enterprise. As the founder and director of award-winning social enterprise Welcome Merchant, she also engages with the different cuisines of refugees and people seeking asylum through their event partnerships in Melbourne and Sydney.
Tenchavez is the proud daughter of a Filipina migrant; food is closely tied to her identity and making sure everyone is fed comes second nature to her. Her palate is wide-ranging, thanks to her time living and studying in cities like Colombo in Sri Lanka, Milan in Italy and Istanbul in Turkiye. Now, having lived in here the past 14 months has really shown her that Melbourne really is the food capital of Australia, and giving back to the community is at the heart of many of the restaurants and cafes in this great city.
Here’s how she does Melbourne.
My local is Le Bajo Milkbar in North Melbourne, a delightful Japanese-owned community milk bar/cafe that’s housed inside a mechanic’s garage. They specialise in shokupan, so every single sandwich they make is just fluffy goodness. My go-to is their prawn katsu roll, which I like to pair with one of their delicious hojicha lattes. I also find it very hard to leave without a piece of the matcha tigre, a matcha almond cake with dark chocolate ganache and a raspberry dusting. This slice of heaven lives in my head rent-free.
I also love Roslyn, the Thai café in West Melbourne. I go here when I’m craving an Asian-style breakfast. They have a cute courtyard out the back, and their service is always good.
The best new thing I’ve found is Earth Angels in North Melbourne. It opened over a year ago, and it’s my local wine bar. The menu changes daily but you’re guaranteed to find something delicious there. Music is always good as well, and they also regularly host pop-ups. They hosted a Persian Feast with Welcome Merchant last year, and the tahdig that was served up was out of this world.
When I want to celebrate an occasion with a special meal, I go to Manzé, also in North Melbourne. This amazing, intimate restaurant serving Mauritian food is my go-to for special occasions. I had never eaten Mauritian food prior to moving to Melbourne (c’mon Sydney, get your act together), so this was the first restaurant I visited after moving here. They serve a seasonal menu rich in seafood that makes you come back for more.
When I want to show off the city to friends from out of town, I take them to Askal in the CBD. I love showing off Filipino food that is done in a way that’s unique but it still retains that distinct Filipino taste. Their pancit canton noodle dish is my favourite, followed closely by their barramundi covered in garlic, ginger and black beans. After a satisfying meal here, I take my visitors to the newly opened rooftop bar above it, Inuman, for ube cocktails.
Collingwood Yards is another favourite, home to Hope St Radio (a favourite wine bar) and a fellow social enterprise, the Social Studio. You can go here to shop for beautiful clothes and accessories made by refugee and migrant tailors at the Social Studio, then a skip and a hop over to Hope St for some wines and snacks. If the weather is good, you can sit at one of their outdoor tables overlooking the wide courtyard, too.
My favourite place to load up on supplies is the Welcome Merchant directory of refugee-owned businesses! Full of gems! You’ll find Persia’s Pantry there, for example – this merchant makes my favourite tira date syrups and Persian brekkie pouches.
There’s no better value in the city than a plate of kothu roti from Tuka Tuka Kothu Roti Man. You can find this Sri Lankan food vendor at Coburg Markets on Saturdays. Also, Shamiat in Northcote does Syrian feasts like no other. Their portions are hearty, delicious and very affordable. I can’t go past their fatayer and muhamarra.
And I wish more people would experience the excellence of Persian food, it’s so underrated. Chef Hamed Allahyari, who used to run the Cafe Salamatea also in Sunshine, has just opened Kababi, and it’s a winner. Persian food is often inaccessible to pescatarians like myself, but Hamed’s take on fesenjan changed my life. This dish is usually made with poultry, slowly cooked with walnuts and pomegranate molasses, but Hamed made a tofu version and I travel to Sunshine just to eat it.
My defining food moment in Melbourne was drinking a magic for the first time. This special coffee has been a lifeline for me on days when I needed a big wake-up.
If there was one thing I could change about eating and drinking in Melbourne it would be more Lebanese restaurants in the city. There’s plenty in the inner north, but not so much in the city.
But the thing I hope never changes here is how Melbourne shows up for community-focused events. Welcome Merchant has been running refugee-powered events in this city since 2022, from pop-up dinners, to markets and short film festivals. The partnerships I see between various hospitality players, small and large, to achieve a common good, have also been truly inspiring.
Check out Welcome Merchant’s directory of excellent refugee-owned businesses at welcomemerchant.com and @welcomemerchant.