Flores and Lately bring Mediterranean dining, cocktails and music to The Angel of Malvern
Two new venues have opened above The Angel of Malvern, adding a Mediterranean restaurant and wine bar, Flores, and a late-night cocktail and audio bar, Lately.
The openings on Thursday, 2nd July complete the multi-level hospitality venue at 641 Dandenong Road, Malvern, with Flores on level one and Lately on the uppermost level above the ground-floor Public Bar.
The Angel of Malvern, first established in 1856, has been reworked under Refinery Group, a Kokoda Inc company. It is the group’s first hospitality venue.
Flores has been designed as a light-filled restaurant and wine bar, with a menu drawing from Southern Italy, coastal Spain and Portugal. The food was created by Refinery Group executive chef Justin North and led in the kitchen by head chef Josh Rudd.
Mark Stevens, founder and managing director of Refinery Group, said the aim was to create a neighbourhood wine bar that could work for lunch, dinner or drinks.
“We want Flores to feel like the kind of neighbourhood wine bar people naturally gravitate towards, somewhere equally suited to a long lunch, a spontaneous dinner or a glass of wine that turns into another bottle,” Stevens said.
The menu includes zucchini and Manchego croquettes with aioli, prawn toast with king prawn, saffron, citrus and Aleppo pepper, burrata with beetroot agro dulce and pumpkin seeds, potato gnocchi with slow-cooked duck, sweet corn, porcini and pecorino, and prawn and lobster ravioli with citrus and lemongrass bisque.
Larger dishes include slow-cooked Gippsland lamb shoulder with mojo picón roast pepper sauce and Portuguese half roast chicken with house piri piri, coriander and lemon. Desserts include warm molten chocolate pudding with vanilla buttermilk gelato and Pedro Ximenez, and dulce de leche flan with crème Chantilly.
A stone-clad charcuterie station finished in Concordia marble sits in the dining room, with cuts hand-sliced to order on a flywheel.
Justin North said Flores was built around shared dining.
“From snacks and salumi through to handmade pasta and larger-format dishes, it’s food designed for sharing,” North said.
Lately adds a late-night bar upstairs
Lately sits on the uppermost level of The Angel of Malvern, with cocktails, music and small bites.
Its cocktail list includes Autumn In Aomori with Nikka Coffey malt whiskey, quince, black walnut and Amaro Lucano; Latitude with Lately mandarin aperitif, Buffalo Trace Bourbon, citrus and nori; and The Orchard with Naught Gin, green apple, strawberry and citrus.
The DJ booth will host a rotating list of artists from Mushroom Events every Friday and Saturday night until 3am.
Studio McCue led the interiors across Flores and Lately. At Flores, the design includes steel window detailing, vaulted white V-board timber-lined ceilings, dark timber floors, exposed brick walls and a mural by local artist Steve Leadbeater above the open kitchen pass.
Bar Flores sits off the main restaurant, with its own bar and a wine-by-the-glass list. The Cellar, a private dining room beside the main restaurant, seats up to 12 guests.
Next to Lately, a private 60-seat function space is available for corporate events, parties and weddings, with AV capabilities and access to Justin North’s menu.
Refinery Group said The Angel of Malvern is the first in a pipeline of more than 10 hospitality brands planned across Melbourne and Brisbane. The group has also acquired The Saint in St Kilda, which is due to open later in 2026.
The Angel of Malvern is at 641 Dandenong Road, Malvern
