Australian Bartender scooped this new venue a few months ago and Assembly is now humming along to a busy crowd and a good vibe. “We’ve already been well and truly adopted by locals who were starved of a place like ours at this end of the city, said Ben Taouss (ex-Pocket bar) who is heading up the team. “We’ve had heaps of appreciative comments about how friendly and helpful our staff are as well!” So their obviously doing a few things right.
Venues
Venues
VinoBravo is another venture to recently launch itself into the lucrative north-side market. Owner David Brown is passionate about wine and simple, good-quality food. Softly lit and with plenty of places to perch this little gem is all about the Italian enoteca – a wine bar for locals where food, conversation and a glass of wine combine. If you’re peckish then there’s a range of foods on offer, from ‘A Little taste’ such as lemon & chilli marinated olives to ‘Little Toasts’, like Sardines with marinated red onion and lemon. The kitchen also hosts a selection of Paninis, Vegetables, Cured Meats and Cheeses.
Having launched in late 2011 MMC is taking a self proclaimed ‘cultural journey’ under the guidance of its head chef, Maurice Esposito.
The team behind the quirky venue are challenging you to enjoy all that the magic of Creole cuisine has to offer. Dishes are all about ‘to share’ and ‘tasting plates’ although there are mains and smaller delights to take your fancy. Creole-style chicken stew, spiced and blackened fish with avocado and a classic cassoulet are all on the menu.
The Smith in Prahran is making some noise as a great mix of food, drink and atmosphere. It’s even developed the common English moniker of ‘gastro-pub’, although those behind the site are happier to call it a restaurant and bar – with a purpose built event space. Nevertheless, The Smith offers cozy corners, communal tables and talented professionals and brings a unique slice of socialising to hordes of happy locals. “We’ve had immediate success since launching,” said The Smith’s Elania Musto.
With Neutral Bay slowly filling up for prime bar real estate there have been a couple of recent additions further down the road in Cremorne. The Mayor Bar & Dining is proving a hit, and came online just in time for the summer rush. “The building used to be the old Cremorne post office and we have done a great transformation to make the bar a warm great space,” says Tim Harvey, venue manager.
Melbourne has numerous ‘haunts’, ‘holes’ and ‘tippling joints’ and Australian Bartender always likes to share the best of the best with its readers – so here’s one for the whiskey lovers.
The Kodiak Club has been up and running since mid-2010 and while it now has a firmly established moniker as a ‘bourbon bar’ co-owner Nathan DeBritt says that it wasn’t always the hard and fast plan. “We didn’t really know what the bar would evolve into and didn’t want to trap ourselves with a specific theme,” DeBritt explained, “so we came up with a name that both complimented our North American vision but left room to move if the response to our product was not positive.”
Jamie Oliver has landed and he’s bringing with him all the expected bells and whistles. Inspired by the culture of laneway gastronomy and tippling Jamie’s Australian foray features antique coppers, earthy coloured tiles, leathers and blackened steel.
The venue features a fully operational pasta preparation station, which produces all the fresh pasta required while also satisfying the curious urge of onlookers. Jamie’s Italian also has an impressive bar area that turns out an array of delightful drinks, all under the watch of the 150kg tiered chandelier, which is suspended over head.
This new bar & café is looking set to revolutionize the Chippendale area. Up for offer is a mix of well crafted cocktails, imported and local wines, draft brews and bar food to match. The Freda’s crew make regular jaunts to the Sydney fish market and Flemington markets in order to source the best and most interesting produce around. Billing their service as ‘sharp yet simple’ they aim to give customers incomparable food and drink.
Andre Bishop (Robot Bar and Golden Monkey) is a self confessed Japanophile – of Japano-geek. He’s a man that’s taken the business of sake and made it his business by bringing its unique flavor and style to the streets of Melbourne.
Most recently he has launched Kumo Izakaya & Sake Bar in East Brunswick. “I have relished the opportunity to combine what I love most about izakayas in Japan with original elements that celebrate local culture and produce,” Bishop said of his latest venue, “Kumo is the complete picture for me.”
Threefold is a newly opened bar that’s combining a few elements in order to bring out its best. Operating as a food shop, café and bar that serves through breakfast to lunch Monday to Friday, it also operates as a bar that serves dinner and snacks on Thursday and Friday evenings.
The Mediterranean styled food is enough to tempt you in while the sun is high, and then come back for the night time offerings which includes sommelier Jane Thornton’s wine list of 15 by the glass options. The head chef, Stephen Black, striving to capture
Danger. Madness. Vernon Chalker’s newest Melbourne destination – Bar Ampere – is finally up and running. It’s been a while in the making, but good things come to those that…you know the word. Bar Ampere, which stands above an antiquated electrical substation, serves as a monument to the French physicist Andre-Marie Ampere.
Bar Ampere is Chalker’s realisation of a futurist dream and in testament to his vision the staff reject all traditional notions of consumption. Splayds (those things that look like a fork, knife and spoon in one) are the tool of choice for diners – a move which Chalker says ‘allows guests one hand free to engage in more animated table talk’.
The land of the ragged student is getting another facelift in its ever developing makeover and now Newtown can boast something shiny and new in Jester Seeds. Owner Ray Vircansa has combined the best of Sydney’s burgeoning small bar scene with an edginess that’s sure to attract the local crowd.