Sophie McIntyre founded Club Sup in 2021 as a modern supper club to help people connect offline. It started with 12 strangers around a table, and now Club Sup hosts events across Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, and London. Club Sup is all about warm, thoughtful spaces, from family-style suppers to culture-led gatherings. The mission is simple: to help people feel less alone, and remind them there’s always a seat at the table.
Here’s where you might find Sophie when she’s off-duty.
My local is… We live in Toorak, so there is literally nothing around us – although you will likely catch me at Pho Hung Vuong 2 on Victoria street on a Thursday night for the best pho, in my opinion, in Melbourne. Or at Cam’s Kiosk for a pasta on Monday night. Or at France-Soir for a steak because it’s $4 more than any of the steaks at the pubs around us – but we’re at France-Soir and the fries are the best in Melbourne and so is the bread.
The best new thing I’ve found is not new but new to me. Chiaki in Collingwood serves ochazuke. It’s the best wintery, brothy, hearty and healthy breakfast in Melbourne.
When I want to celebrate an occasion with a special meal, I will try book the table in the window at Kafeneion on Spring Street – it’s the perfect spot for super amazing service and a beautiful Greek wine list that doesn’t break the bank. The food is out of this world and it just makes you feel a part of Melbourne.
When I want to show off the city to friends from out of town, it depends on what they’re feeling like – it could be Friday night a mini Martini at Cathedral Coffee then onto the NGV, and finishing the night with steaming hot tonkatsu at Katsuretsu Co. Or, a curry at Jinda Thai or whole fish at Tom Toon and a walk over the MCG to watch a game. It could also be a Friday night dinner at Florian and then a walk over to the North Fitzroy Arms to play a few rounds of pool.
Some of my favourite spots to host Club Sup in Melbourne are Cam’s Kiosk, Neighbourhood Wine, North Fitzroy Arms and Hector’s Deli. If there’s one thing all of these restaurants have in common, it’s the lighting – and honestly, that’s one of the biggest reasons I choose to host Club Sup in these spaces. Good lighting creates an immediate sense of warmth, and warmth is what makes a space feel truly inviting. Our Club Sup venues need to look and feel like someone’s home: welcoming, familiar, and filled with heart.
The food at each of these places is comforting and unpretentious. It honours tradition while quietly nodding to the future. More than anything, you can feel that the people behind these restaurants, owners, chefs and staff are there for their community. They’re creating something special: food that’s fresh and full of care, and spaces that become the backdrop for connection, conversation, and memories.
My favourite spot to have a drink with old friends in Melbourne depends on the season. In the summer, I love to sit outside City Wine Shop or Amarillo in Fitzroy to people-watch, otherwise I head to Above Board in Collingwood.
And the best spot to meet or make new friends is the Marquis of Lorne. Go there at 5.30pm on a Friday in the summer, sit outside with a Campari soda and just chat to everyone. In five minutes you’ll find someone who also grew up in your obscure hometown.
My favourite place to load up on supplies is Toscano’s in Hawksburn Village. It seems nearly every market in Melbourne is being renovated to price people out of fresh produce. Not at my fave. The produce is always of the highest quality and fresh from local growers (where they can). It’s always market price on seasonal produce. Everything you buy from there lasts at minimum two weeks which is 13 days more than most things from a regular supermarket. Of course, Mediterranean Wholesalers in Brunswick. I will go up every couple of months to stock up on pasta, parmesan, and everything in jars – anchovies, olives and tins of tomatoes.
There’s no better value in the city than… Oh gosh, there is so much, we could be here all day, but my faves are Mr Ramen San, Crystal Palace yum cha and Il Solito Posto.
And I wish more people would experience the excellence of not taking your phone out, not even once during dinner, to take a picture of your food.
My defining food moment in Melbourne was the first time I went to Anchovy on Bridge road in Richmond and had the meal of my life. Or the first time I went to Kafeneion and sat in the window with my partner, or the Christmas Eve spent at France-Soir splitting a simple baked fish and crêpes Suzette.
If there was one thing I could change about eating and drinking in Melbourne it would be the necessary evil of modern restaurants: social media. Food is deeply personal, yet public reviews now carry enormous weight. There’s a new wave of venues that feel too big to fail, places built around Instagrammable aesthetics, where you’re rushed through your meal and the experience feels more curated for content than connection. Somewhere along the way, mood, service, and most importantly the food, get lost.
All I want is more places like the new France-Soir bar, where the energy is electric, the food speaks for itself, and they make you slap a heart sticker over your camera lens. No content, just presence. More of that, please. Oh and no more tiramisu that costs $25 or more a serve.
But the thing I hope never changes here is… One thing I’ve learned in my 13 years living here: Melburnians will show up rain, hail or shine. This city has a deep nostalgia when it comes to food and the places we return to again and again. Think Jim’s Greek Tavern, Abla’s, Il Solito Posto and Bar Lourinhã. Some of these icons have been around for decades. If a place is good, it’s busy.
Melbourne has an adventurous palate, too. Locals are curious, open to new cuisines, and always chasing flavour. And at its best, this city’s food scene is driven by passion. You can feel that a lot of places are built for the love of it.
Take a seat at the Club Sup table at clubsup.com.au and @clubsup_.