Maha restaurateur Shane Delia is taking to the streets, quite literally, with his latest restaurant concept, Layla.

In response to new restrictions, Delia will open a new outdoor diner, housed within a pavilion on Bond Street.

“Something like this would usually take a couple of months to get off the ground, but with much of the red tape removed, we are thankfully able to do it in a lot less time,” Delia said.

The birdcage-style marquee will take just 48 hours to install, and Delia hopes to have the restaurant up and running within a week, with the venue slated to open on Wednesday, November 11.

“It has come together really quickly. In Melbourne, like most of the country, we are reinventing ourselves by the second and there’s no real opportunity to forward plan.”

Layla will take its cues from the vibrant outdoor dining culture found in the Med, in particular, countries like Egypt and Lebanon.

“The venue will be reminiscent of the beautiful old alleyways in Lebanon and Egypt that are filled with marquees, with people eating and drinking all day long. It’s so beautiful and we want the people of Melbourne to have that experience.”

Layla won’t have a menu, instead, roving waiters will take around trays of small plates for a set price.

“It’ll be a bit like yum cha, you’ll be able to go ‘I want one of those, and those, and those,'” he said.

A few dishes will come from Maha Bar, however, most offerings will be completely new.

“We wrote a brilliant menu for Maha Bar and then it was only open for a few weeks before we had to shut it down, so we’ll include a few snacky dishes from there,”  he said.

“We want Layla to be an expression of the summer, so we’re creating new dishes with that in mind, from barbecue calamari with preserved lemon, broad bean leaves and pickled almonds to kataifi-wrapped haloumi with fennel seed honey.”

Food will be prepared in the Maha food truck, while wine and Champagne will be raided from the restaurant’s cellar. There will also be an onsite bar, which will shake up Middle Eastern-inspired cocktails to order.

Layla is slated to open on Bond Street on Wednesday, November 11.