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As an 80s kid, movies were a huge part of my childhood. With no streaming services to beam every film and TV show ever made directly to my hungry eyes, seeing a movie was an event. I remember going to watch Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade at the theatre (with a crazy scene featuring circus freaks that was cut from all subsequent releases), watching whatever golden oldies were playing on the ABC on Sunday arvos (which made me a lifelong Humphry Bogart fan from the age of about six), and developing a lightning quick trigger finger to pause the tape during commercial breaks while recording Willow from the TV onto a blank VHS.
So walking into Champagne Video in Fitzroy North, I felt right at home. This cozy little bar, named after the video rental store in Seinfeld, is also a movie theater, decked out with a ‘70s diner aesthetic and adorned in framed stills from cult movie classics. The front bar catches the afternoon light beautifully through west-facing windows, while the back room is lined by tall shelves full of VHS tapes (all available to rent) bathed in the soft glow of pink neon; down the hallway, a 30-seat theatre sports a brand new projector and an epic sound system. Available to rent for just $100 for a 135-minute screening (as well as karaoke, live bands, comedy shows, whatever you like), it’s a pretty epic — and easy — place to throw a party.
This iteration of the venue has been here for about six months in the space that was previously called Wildflower Picture House, and before that Longplay wine bar. Campagne Video is now operated by business partners Jack White, who also runs Henkel Street Cinema in Brunswick, and Jayden Boyce, who takes care of the hospitality offering. Both are huge movie buffs, which gives the venue a personal feel that’s impossible to quantify but critical to good independent hospitality. I’m sure I annoyed Jack by gushing about my childhood love of The Blues Brothers, whose wayfarer-shaded eyes gaze benevolently over the room from their framed picture on the bar. I was just excited to talk to someone who understood my static-hazed nostalgia.
“You wouldn’t be the first,” laughs Jayden. “We love it when we’re full of movie-buff regulars. They sit up at the bar and chat movies with us and each-other, and try to guess what film is being projected onto the ceiling.” Today, I can’t pick it, as black and white smoke swirls around the light fittings above us.
Jayden is clearly a booze nerd, too, the back-bar stocked with all sorts of unusual bottles like a French fig aperitif, a special edition single malt from Hobart Distillery and Kimo Sabe mezcal.
“I’ve been into whisky for over 15 years now,” Jayden says. “I used to work at Howling Wolf in Wooloongoong, which had one of the biggest selections of whisky in Australia, and after that I started getting into gin so my curiosity just grew from there.”
Jayden pulls down a bottle of DiBaldo gin from Italy to show me. “The guy who makes this has synesthesia,” he says, “so he sees flavour as musical notes. It makes for a really brilliant gin.” He pours me a taste of amaro from the same producer, which is stunning in its delicate complexity. It’s not at all what I was expecting to try in a tiny bar/movie theater in Fitzroy North.
Jayden incorporates these left-field spirits into the cocktails here, too. “I wanted to do something different, offer flavours that you don’t find everywhere else. I’ve tried to make things that aren’t conventional but still with flavours that work,” he tells me. “And we’re a cinema bar, so of course I had to name all of the cocktails after movies.”
In the Mood for Love, for example, features gin, hibiscus, ginger and Autonomy Davo Plum aperitif for a bittersweet, slightly sour drink the colour and flavour of complicated romance, while Coffee and Cigarettes sees coffee liqueur spiked with Laphroaig and Turkish tobacco bitters for a powerful sipper Tom Waits would be proud of. “I felt like there needed to be popcorn in there somewhere, too,” Jayden says, “So we have the Be Kind, Rewind with Hunter Valley popcorn liqueur and The Triffid Tonic tonic syrup, garnished with popcorn dust.”
Unfortunately, Jayden is leaving Melbourne for greener pastures in the coming months, and as such is looking to sell this little slice of movie magic. “We’re not looking to make heaps of money on the sale,” he says. “We just want to pass it on to someone who loves the vision and wants to keep it going, so for the right person we’ll let it go for a good price.”
It’s a shame, but also a great opportunity. With a commercial kitchen upstairs that’s currently not being used, and a courtyard out the back that could easily be turned into an outdoor seating area (licensing permitting), there’s plenty that could be done to dial up the offering here without the need for a major refit. I’m honestly pretty tempted to buy the place myself.
So if there are any keen managers out there who love movies and want your own place, call me. I might just buy you a bar.
Around the Bars
Get Ur Greek On. This weekend Antipodes Festival is taking over Lonsdale Street in the CBD in celebration of Melbourne’s Greek community with food, performances and of course those weird corporate booths. Would you like some insurance to go with that souvlaki? It’s a great chance to try Greek beer and wine, or visit one of the many amazing bars in the area. Also, From Friday, 27 February to Tuesday, 31 March, Greek-Australian chef George Calombaris is popping up at Ovolo Melbourne, South Yarra with 'Auto Greek at Bar Yarra'. The residency is “inspired by his recent trip to Athens, the menu will showcase of-the-moment dishes direct from the epicentre of Greece’s new-wave dining culture.” Bar Yarra Restaurant Manager Alex McLennan’s list will feature Greek wines and Hellenic flavours, with cocktails including Greek spirits like Metaxa and Tsipouro. Let’s hope the staff all get paid properly.
Dark & Delicious. We’re lucky in Melbourne to have so many brilliant wine and spirits producers close at hand, and Mornington Peninsula has to be up there with the best regions for both. Three of the area’s foremost distilleries, Bass & Flinders, JimmyRum and Chief's Son Distillery, have recently announced that they’re teaming up to launch Dark Spirits of the Mornington Peninsula. Joining forces to promote the excellent aged spirits coming out of the area, it promises to be a new kind of shared distributor model which will hopefully see better uptake of these great local products. Melbourne’s wonderful Sarah Platsis Jones is leading the charge as National Sales Representative, working to support venues through training, activations, and building genuine partnerships that drive sustainable growth. For trade access to the Dark Spirits of the Mornington Peninsula portfolio, contact Sarah directly at sales@dsmp.com.au.
Time is running out to apply for Scholarship program at Bartenders’ Weekender? The Weekender takes place in Adelaide on June 14 to 16 (save the date!). We’ve got 10 Scholarships to grant, which include return airfares to Bartenders’ Weekender, three nights accommodation at the five star Sofitel Adelaide, $500 spending money and tickets to events (including the Better Bars Summit, the Boothby Best Bars SA Awards and the Drinks 100 Australia Awards Gala). Apply now at bartendersweekender.com — entries close Sunday next week, Sunday 8 March.
