Monty Koludrovic has returned home to Australia, with a new restaurant in tow. And he’s launching it with the nation’s best butcher, Anthony Puharich.
After a six-year stint in Los Angeles, former Icebergs executive chef Monty Koludrovic has announced his return to Australian shores, and he’s heading up the new Victor Churchill venture at Crown, opening 2027. It’s an international move made for good friend Anthony Puharich and Rebecca Puharich of Victor Churchill and Vic’s Meats fame; Koludrovic has just announced his appointment as the innovative butcher’s executive chef.
It’s all part of the next chapter for the Victor Churchill brand, with the incoming new, third venture at Crown Melbourne due to join the existing two in 2027; the luxe Sydney retail space in Woollahra, and the innovative Melbourne butcher, dining and bar hybrid. Now, the early details of the impending new restaurant have been announced, with Koludrovic leading the direction of food for the new venture opening, it’s safe to assume, will be meat-forward.
“I’m stoked on so many levels,” says Puharich of the news. “First and foremost, I’m over the moon that I’m able to bring a talented chef and a dear friend back to Australia,” he says. “There are half a dozen elite chefs in Australia, and Monty is one of them. He’s one of the most creative, talented and intelligent cooks and chefs that I’ve ever come across, and I’m lucky to be able to work with him.”
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Koludrovic is just as excited about the chance to join forces on the project: “There’s no question that Anthony is an authority on Aussie beef,” he says. “And we always knew we’d like to work together some day. So to be given the chance to come back to Australia and work with really close friends – we’re pumped.”
The chef also promises that the duo’s new offering will be quite unlike the current Victor Churchill outposts, saying, “Even though Victor Churchill exists now, it doesn’t exist in the way it’s soon going to.”
The new restaurant will be in line with Puharich’s evolution of the premium butcher. It’s the next step for the much-loved family business, which in 2026 celebrates 150 years since it first opened its butcher store at 132 Queen Street, Woollahra – helping Victor Churchill claim the title of the oldest continuously running butcher shop in Australia. But Puharich’s sights are set beyond the world of luxury cuts of meat, and are now firmly focused on the larger realm of hospitality.
“This is the next chapter for Victor Churchill,” Puharich says. “I’m a fifth-generation butcher, and a proud one at that. But while we are butchers, that’s not what defines us – we are proud to offer more than the typical retail butcher experience. For us, it’s about food and lifestyle, quality and experience – everything that sits under that umbrella, including dining and hospitality. That’s an area that I want to continue to grow into, which is why I sought out the incredible talents of someone like Monty.”
It’s not just Koludrovic’s talents that will help to cement the Victor Churchill brand in the dining scene; in time he will be joined in the kitchen by wife and former Icebergs Group pastry chef Jaci Koludrovic. For Puharich, it was a no-brainer.
“They’re a package deal, and I’ve known them both a long time,” he says. “She is an incredible talent in her own right.”
Puharich has spent the past few decades supplying meat to the best chefs and restaurants around the country, something he hopes to continue for generations to come. But now, he’ll also be supplying his own eatery.
“This is the direction I want to push Victor Churchill in,” he explains. “I’m passionate about hospitality and food – it will drive and define us into the future.”
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