Heist Opens in South Melbourne, Betting on Retro Menu Math

Heist, a new daytime eatery, has opened in South Melbourne from the trio behind cafe Clementine. The venue operates Monday to Saturday, 7am to 3pm, and is led by Glen Bagnara, Philippe Perrey and Head Chef David Yuan, whose credits include Hemingway's Wine Room and Bar Bianco.

The opening expands the group's footprint in South Melbourne after three years of trading at Clementine. That track record, not a whim, is the stated basis for the second site.

"Building on the success of Clementine over the past three years, we saw an opportunity to create a new offering in South Melbourne," says Bagnara. "We understand people use cafes in many ways today. You have locals grabbing a coffee, people working from home, office workers looking for lunch or something quick to take away. Heist has been designed to become part of those daily routines."

Bagnara is general manager of the new venue.

What is the concept?

The name and theme reference the 1969 Michael Caine film The Italian Job. The menu logic is straightforward: take familiar dishes — home staples and classic restaurant plates — and rework them for a contemporary Melbourne cafe. Bagnara says the team wanted the menu to feel familiar, which let them draw on "retro favourites" and reimagine them in a distinctly Melbourne way.

In practice, that means recognisable plates rebuilt with contemporary inputs. Familiarity is the sales hook. Novelty in execution is the margin story.

What is on the menu?

Head Chef David Yuan oversees a kitchen built around reworked retro dishes. The signatures include:

• Prawn cocktail sando — a nod to the classic prawn cocktail, built on Japanese shokupan (a soft milk bread) layered with prawns, preserved lemon, dill, smoked paprika mayo and avocado.
• Vol-au-vent à la king — a modern take on the retro dinner-party staple, with chicken, mushrooms, onion herbs, Dijon, chives, cream, peas, sherry and puff pastry.
• Elvis and the French toast experiment — a homage to Elvis Presley's famous peanut butter and banana sandwich, reimagined as French toast with banana fritters, cinnamon sugar, whipped cream and maple syrup.
• Baked potato brunch — inspired by the loaded baked potatoes of the 1970s and 80s, with crispy baked potatoes, sour cream, chilli and herb scramble, slaw and pork crackle.

Who is the daytime trade for?

The grab-and-go selection targets the takeaway and office-lunch segments Bagnara identifies as core demand. It includes sandwich boxes with up to four fillings — roast chicken, curried egg, smoked salmon and tuna mayo — alongside quiche Lorraine and various salads.

The trading hours confirm the strategy. Closing at 3pm, six days a week, Heist has skipped dinner service entirely. Daypart focus, not all-day ambition, is the model.

The bet is that nostalgia travels well between 7am and 3pm. If Clementine's three-year run is any guide, South Melbourne has an appetite for a second helping.