Agnii Sets a New Template for Sri Lankan Food in Melbourne

Gayan Pieris describes his new restaurant Agnii as a “collection of memories”. The Many Little chef’s ambitious new Windsor venue, which opened on Chapel Street on Saturday, is almost a decade in the making. But it’s more than just a love letter to Sri Lankan food, his mum’s kitchen and Victorian produce. As far as Pieris can tell, it’s also the only Sri Lankan restaurant in Melbourne cooking over traditional woodfire. “Even around the world, I’ve never seen a Sri Lankan venue do something like this,” says Pieris, who grew up in Kandy, in Sri Lanka’s central highlands. “Not even in Sri Lanka. We don’t have restaurants, as such, where you’d sit down and spend a couple of hours. Unless you go to a five-star hotel, which is more colonial style.” Instead, cooking with fire typically happens in Sri Lankan homes.