In an unassuming Coburg North industrial precinct, the chef behind Wonder Pies has opened a “many-pronged food village” offering everything from bread to pastries, ready-made-meals and fresh pasta.
November 15, 2026
Superlupo
Bakery$
You could look at Superlupo as yet another Melbourne bakery, with lovely sourdough bread (dark-crusted, springy, delicious), a nice origin story about the wheat (from Hawkes Farm on the Mornington Peninsula, mostly known for potatoes) and enticing signature pastries (don’t buy the last twice-baked croissant with caramelised peanuts – I want it).
Or you could see it as a deli, where you pick up fresh pasta for home (outstanding duck and porcini tortelli, supple pappardelle), along with heat-and-eat sauces (I love the alla gricia, a white sauce with guanciale and pecorino, but the bolognese could be richer), and maybe premium anchovies or tiramisu to put on the table as well. It is those things. But it’s more than that.
Superlupo is the latest operation to spring from The Newlands Quarter, which looks like a thousand other factories in this light-industrial precinct in Coburg North: boxy and modern, not much character. But in this practical space, chef Raymond Capaldi and his partner and CEO Jodi Crocker are creating a multi-brand many-pronged food village that might be part of your daily diet, even if you never visit it.
Next to Superlupo is a Wonder Pies shop serving coffee and high-quality protein-packed pies (Thai green chicken for me), but you might also eat a Wonder Pie in a cafe anywhere in town, or at a function where party pies are handed around. In the factory out back, another business called Signature Series supplies more than 400 restaurants and caterers around Australia, braising beef cheeks and lamb shanks, whipping buttery mash, pressing terrines and stirring sauces, then shipping them coast to coast. Superlupo’s products are also part of that ecosystem: the tortelli you buy could turn up on a restaurant menu too.
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In a way, I hate this. My idealistic heart wants to eat at independent restaurants where the chefs lovingly make sauces and stocks, roll pastry and craft pies, preferably to Granny’s recipe. On the other hand, I know wages are high, skills are down and it’s hard to maintain standards. Why wouldn’t a restaurant reduce stress and variables? Doing anything at scale is cheaper, too. When hospitality margins are razor thin, how to argue against a consistent product that arrives in a box? And wouldn’t a diner – even me – rather eat a meal that’s decent and bought in than housemade and meh?
Raymond Capaldi has been wrangling with these questions for 30 years. At his riverfront restaurant, Fenix, opened in 2000, he served Melbourne some of its first molecular gastronomy (think cauliflower soup with chocolate puffed rice, and a melding of salmon, licorice and grapefruit). He also puzzled over practicalities; when his team slogged until 2am to cook Peking duck, he decided to buy it ready-made down the road.
It sparked something. By the time he opened Hare & Grace in the city in 2010, he was producing 15 core dishes on site and buying the rest. A key outcome was profit, something he and Crocker enable for today’s restaurants, while building a thriving business themselves. They’re also employing great talent, notably pasta master McKay Wilday, who earned a hat atAlta Trattoria in 2023.
And what about the site itself? It’s a sunny spot with easy parking, outdoor tables, and a pasta hut, where they cook a couple of dishes a day (liquor license incoming). Capaldi’s fanciful creativity is still seen in creations like the brilliant lasagne turnover, a folded puff-pastry parcel with a wedge of lasagne inside, and a fun amaretti biscuit with a jam-drop filling of strawberry, tomato and sumac.
His hospitality heart also shines through in high teas, soon to be served in the upstairs event space, and in pasta and sourdough cooking classes. This whole precinct says something about our food world now: pressured, rigorous, tight. But within that, Superlupo is a pleasure, tapping into artisan tradition to offer affordable, easy wins.
Three more to try: Eat here or take home
Sushi Baby
The please-all-comers dine-in menu zooms from karaage chicken to hand rolls to curries and soba, but the sleepers here are the beautifully presented takeaway sushi boxes, available to order with just three hours’ notice. Great for a surprise dinner or a party, they’re also excellent picnic food.
414 New Street, Brighton, sushibaby.com.au
Eleni’s Kitchen & Bar
It’s lovely to sit inside this bustling, family-run Greek restaurant for dips and grills, but Eleni also does a helpful line of take-home meals. The tray bakes are an easy win, comfortably serving four or six people. Think stuffed peppers, moussaka, and pastitsio, a layered pasta bake with macaroni, minced meat and bechamel.
28 Anderson Street, Yarraville, eleniskitchen.com.au
Le Charme
This cha chaan teng is as brisk and buzzing as any cafe you’d find in Hong Kong; the menu note that warns “efficiency over etiquette” might give a clue to the mood. Favourite baked goods include pineapple buns, egg tarts and sponge rolls. For savouries, dishes over rice are good, fresh and satisfying, whether you’re eating in or grabbing to go.
107 Kingsway, Glen Waverley, instagram.com/lecharme_au
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Source: The Age · Dani Valent
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