The team behind Sleepy’s Café & Wine Bar are stepping into the late night scene, with the opening of Moondrop on 4 December. The new Fitzroy bar brings together co-directors Steve Chan, Jesse Kourmouzis and Jacob Muoio, and leans into Chan’s Chinese heritage with a clear vision – Shanghai glamour, Chinese spirits, and a tight menu of bar snacks.
“I started in this industry because I love sharing experiences… I’ve really been leaning into my Chinese identity, using food and drink as a way to connect with my culture and share it with others,” said Chan.
Moondrop takes over the former Everleigh space on Gertrude Street. Patrons step off the street and into a low-lit room framed by white drapery, a glowing moon-like orb overhead, and a long red mosaic bar finished with hand-painted tiles. Custom Mahjong tables are built into the original bluestone walls, and Chinese knick-knacks scatter the shelves.
Behind the bar, Co-Director and Head of Beverage Kourmouzis builds a cocktail list anchored in lesser-known Chinese spirits and flavours, nodding to Shanghai’s east-meets-west era.
The menu includes the Me & Ube, a clarified oat milk punch riffing on bubble tea with tapioca, pineapple, ube, Licor 43 and three rums; the M.S.Gibson, a gin-based, baijiu-laced martini served either half or full; the Chanhattan with NIKKA From The Barrel, lapsang souchong vermouth, crème de cacao and a chocolate tuile; the Moondrop Negroni built on tangerine peel vermouth, Campari and Mandarin Napoleon with a stamped ice cube; The 5-Spice Girls mixing rum, Umeshu, pineapple, lime, sesame and foam; and the Sichuan Slipper, which uses Muoio’s house hot sauce alongside Midori, Cointreau, Anchos Reyes Verde and lemon, finished with a slice of radish.
The team is clear about the intention behind the menu: “Chinese flavours in cocktails aren’t often seen, and we’re doing a lot of innovation with these ingredients… the moon rabbit emblem, steeped in Chinese folklore, is interwoven into the fabric of the venue.”
In the kitchen, Muoio keeps things tight with Chinese-Australian bar snacks and a rotating dumpling menu. Dishes include prawn crackers, cheddar tartlets with quince and osmanthus, BBQ mushroom bao, pork and chrysanthemum dumplings. There’s charcuterie, cheese, a caviar service with scallion pikelets and crème fraîche, and a snowskin mooncake filled with vanilla and red bean ice cream. Muoio’s pastry background also feeds into the cocktail program, with delicate edible garnishes made in-house.
For Chan, the heart of the venue is straightforward: “I want people to remember the hospitable part of hospitality… Whilst Moondrop is an elevated offering, we welcome everybody and want to be approachable, because everyone deserves to have an elevated experience.”