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Kitchen Kind #16
Tresna Lee

Gemini Coburg Merri-Bek

Tresna Lee, the co-owner of Gemini Wine Bar in Coburg - with her partner, Shane Farrell - has been in love with cooking and creating experiences for as long as she can remember. From cooking apple pies with her grandmother as a young girl and playing tea parties, to organising her dad’s surprise birthday party at the age of 12 and throwing dinner parties as an adult, bringing people together around a table is one of the things that keeps her going, something she simply loves. 

She and Shane have put this passion into action in their wine bar and events space on Sydney Road, building a welcoming, warm community hub - loaded with great food and wine - for locals and those further afield. In this Kitchen Kind, Tresna shares memories of food, love and connection. 

Tresna Lee and Shane Farrell from Gemini, Coburg
Kitty Haining and Zenon Misko with their eldest child, Yuri.

What dish or ingredient speaks of love to you and why? 

Any kind of home-baked sweet, but especially apple pies, sparks deep sentimental feelings for me.

My earliest memories of food are centred around my grandmother’s kitchen. Before I started school, I spent my days with her while my parents were at work. She shuffled through her daily routine in slippers —baking, knitting, making endless cups of tea. Those memories are visceral. I can still feel myself standing on a chair at the kitchen bench, hands in flour as we made pastry for pies or beat sugar and butter for fairy cakes.

My grandmother spent much of her time in service of others—baking for elderly neighbours who couldn’t cook, knitting jumpers for foster children, and always piling our plates high with food. She taught me that making something with your hands for another person is a way to show love. I felt that every day in the comfort of her home.

Tresna Lee as a kid
Khrystyna Misko, Zenon's mother, as a child at an Austrian refugee camp in the 1940s.

When a friend or family member comes over, what is a dish you like to cook for them? 

I love throwing dinner parties and gathering people around a table. Like most kids, I played “tea parties”— but I never really stopped.

I coordinated all my birthday parties growing up. My parents let me host something every year, while my brother couldn’t have cared less. When I was 12, I organised my dad’s surprise 40th birthday party—called the caterers, planned the decorations. I remember looking around that room full of grown-ups (and my dad’s very embarrassed face—he hates surprises) and feeling amazed that I had created this moment for everyone.

Over time, the parties just got bigger and more elaborate. Make-believe tea parties turned into multi-day cooking marathons, annual house parties, secret cocktail events, even immersive parties spread across entire buildings. That passion eventually shaped a career focused on crafting memorable experiences — and Gemini is now the platform through which I get to offer up those gifts.

This is a long-winded way of saying: in this season of life, I’m learning to keep things simple when friends or family come over. There’s less production, more presence. We might shuck oysters at the table while we chat, set up a DIY pizza station, or even pick up charcoal chicken and throw together a salad. I’m remembering that food is just one part of the memory-making, and what matters most is the presence and feeling.

Find out more about Gemini Wine bar here.

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