By Leigh O’Connor.
If 2025 could be plated, Winston Zhang says it would taste like gratitude. It is not like a catchphrase but a truth learned over long services and a tough Melbourne year. For Akaiito and its brother restaurant downstairs, Ototo, the past twelve months have been about presence: staying close to guests, staying true to craft and staying resilient in a city still relearning the rhythm of dining out.
At Akaiito, that presence hits the moment you step inside. The room is darkly beautiful and quietly romantic, the kind of place where voices naturally soften and the table feels like its own little world. Winston calls what they do "elevated intimacy and personal touch,” and in 2025 they’ve leaned into that harder than ever.
The Chef-led ‘omakase at your table’ has become the heart of the experience - less a fixed tasting menu and more a living conversation. Chefs arrive with a course, finish it beside you, explain a detail you might have missed and then step back so the food can speak. It’s theatre, but gentle theatre; you’re not watching from a distance, you’re part of it.
That closeness is why Akaiito has become a place people reserve for their marker nights. Winston sees birthdays, anniversaries, first dates that need courage, long-married couples still dressing up for each other. People come here when they want the night to feel like more than dinner and they leave carrying a dish in their memory.
He names the plates that have defined the year - dry-aged duck with its calm, savoury depth; dry-aged Wagyu kissed by charcoal until it tastes like silk and smoke; Glacier 51 toothfish marinated in miso, rich and melting.
Yet when asked which dish he personally loved most in 2025, Winston doesn’t hesitate:
"Robatayaki-kissed Queensland King prawn served over akita komachi rice with chanterelle mushroom and bouillabaisse with our signature miso brioche,” he says, and you can hear the smile in it. "The dish makes your tough smiling.” It’s such a grounded way to describe something exquisite - a bite that disarms you, softens your shoulders, gives you a reason to stay present.
However, 2025 hasn’t been only glow. Winston is frank about Melbourne’s slow hospitality climate and the way value is questioned more openly now. The city is dining out again, but carefully and he knows the price conversation sits at every table.
He doesn’t sound defensive about it - more thoughtful than anything. The answer for Akaiito hasn’t been to dilute what it does, but to clarify it. While the tasting journey is a highlight, they’ve kept à la carte and lunch alive so guests can choose their own shape of night. Flexibility here isn’t a compromise; it’s hospitality.
Ototo, meanwhile, has provided the bright counterpoint Akaiito needs. Same family, same devotion to flavour, but with its collar unbuttoned. Downstairs is more social, more laid-back, an izakaya spirit that invites you to linger.
It’s where you go for the warm buzz of a late night, for shared plates and a drink that turns into two, for the feeling of being welcomed without ceremony. In a year when diners have been choosing their moods carefully, the pairing of the two venues has mattered: Akaiito for candlelit celebration, Ototo for easy, communal joy.
Looking ahead, Winston sums 2026 up in another bite: "look forward.” He expects the rebound to keep building - more foot traffic, more tourism, more appetite for experiences like Chef’s tables and private dining.
He’s clear-eyed about what comes with it: costs rising, rents tightening, competition thickening. Next year he wants Akaiito to stay dynamic, high-touch and distinctly itself and he’s "looking for online opportunities to bring Akaiito classic to your home.” Beyond the business goals, his personal one is simple: "Spend more time with my family and provide quality food and service to my customers.”
On New Year’s Eve, he’ll probably be where he always is. "As a hospitality person, I have spent most of my NYE in the restaurant with my staff and customers,” he says. "I really appreciate their support and I can’t be me without them.”
After service there’s a staff dinner - a small ritual of thanks - and then, wherever the night ends, a moment for family. Gratitude behind him, hope ahead and two venues that, together, keep giving Melbourne a reason to dress up, slow down and feel something over dinner.
