If you’ve ever stood slack-jawed inside Victor Churchill’s Woollahra flagship, you already know that it isn’t a butcher shop in the traditional sense. The museum-like scenes of hooked chucks, legs, and ribs were famously described by Anthony Bourdain as being in “the most beautiful butcher shop in the world.” Now, the cult Sydney institution is taking its next, most ambitious step yet: a Victor Churchill bar and grill at Crown Melbourne, set to open mid-2027.
Led by Anthony and Rebecca Puharich, the new Victor Churchill restaurant will bring the brand’s obsessive approach to craft, storytelling and spectacle to a fully immersive dining room overlooking the Yarra. Designed by New York firm AvroKO, we can expect a modern Australian steakhouse with the Churchill theatrics, while in the kitchen, chef Monty Koludrovic (Icebergs, The Dorchester and Hollywood’s The Living Room), will use locally sourced produce alongside the stellar meats in a seasonal menu.
Founded in 1876, Victor Churchill has spent nearly 150 years redefining luxury meat retail– and since taking the reins in 2009, the Puharich family has turned the heritage butcher into a global player. Building on the success of the Armadale store, the Crown Melbourne venue signifies the evolution of Victor Churchill from retailer to (literal) tastemaker.
From a 19th-century Woollahra butcher to one of the country’s most desirable food retail destinations, showing how to prepare the produce is a natural next step. Come 2027, Melbourne gets a river view seat.
