Drinking Melbourne is the weekly briefing from drinks writer Fred Siggins, unpacking what’s happening in Melbourne’s bars (and what you can learn from them), sent every Tuesday to your inbox. Get on the list here.
It’s prime pub time in Melbourne right now; the height of footy season and the worst of the cold weather, when a pint, a fireplace and someone else doing the cooking are panaceas to the chronic lack of vitamin D. There’s been plenty of movement in the pub realm in recent months, especially Northside where great pubs can be found on nearly every block. So here’s some news and views from the pubs of Melbourne, long may they reign.
Smith St. Hotel
Officially launching this weekend, Smith St. Hotel, formerly The Gasometer, is already open and trading in the big red building on the corner of Smith Street and Alexandra Parade in Collingwood. Now in the hands of well-known Melbourne restaurateur Scott Pickett (Estelle, Longrain), the timing of the takeover is notable given that part of Pickett’s hospo empire went into voluntary administration less than a year ago, and only secured financial backing to avoid liquidation within the last few weeks, according to reporting in The Age. The previous owners were also left enraged when no money changed hands for the brand and other assets, Pickett choosing to rebrand and rebuild sans the Gaso’s 18K Instagram followers.
The venue has changed little in physical terms from its previous iteration, the same baroque clutter lending warmth to the dining room while band posters and neon adorn the front bar, a fire crackling in the hearth below the big screen, projecting a nail biting showdown between Essendon and GWS (sound on).
As you would hope from Pickett, the menu goes beyond the usual pub fare while still playing it relatively safe by Northside standards and leaning heavily on nostalgia. Bar snacks like Jatz with cheese and cabana, South Melbourne dim sims and salt and vinegar potato cakes served with a (not very generous) dollop of lemony taramasalata, all come in, thankfully, at pretty standard pub prices. Unfortunately the beer offering is far less interesting, with little support for independent craft and a surplus of ho-hum corporate options.
But in much better tidings, the huge band room is once again playing host to a full roster of live acts. Tonight Carla Geneve has top billing as part of her Finally Broke Me tour, while this coming weekend there’s a mini festival of sorts with over 20 acts across three days to celebrate the venue’s official launch, including free entry on Saturday with an RSVP. The Gaso was a critical supporter of live music in Collingwood as one of the biggest band rooms in the area, so it’s a relief to see it up and running again.
The Pinnacle
I finally had the chance this weekend to properly check out the revived Pinnacle Hotel in Fitzroy North, which reopened back in February. This little, oddly shaped pub was one of the first in the city to go hard on craft beer, and it’s great to see that hasn’t changed with Guinness as the only corporately owned option on tap, the rest pouring craft deliciousness like Two Metre Tall and Sailor’s Grave.
The food menu has had a serious glow-up with cracking snacks like pickled deviled eggs and Port Arlington mussels in tomato sugo, but the prices are still pub appropriate and the portions generous. The Pinny has a short but well-executed list of classics all featuring local spirits. This month, there’s a special Manhattan made with The Gospel Rye and Fallen Quinces Vermouth from Saison that’s well worth a trip up Brunswick Street.
Unfortunately there’s no more live music to be heard here in the courtyard that once held regular gigs, but given the space limitations I can understand why it might not work, and I’d rather see this key supporter of craft beer and community spirit survive and thrive than die on an indefensible hill. And if you’re a footy fan, they’re playing the AFL live and loud, but the TVs go mercifully dark as soon as the final siren sounds so your evening can remain undisturbed by the Fox Sports talking heads and their “witty banter.”
O’Connell’s Century Hotel
Back in May, the team from Praharan’s Flying Duck Hotel reopened O'Connell's Hotel in South Melbourne, one of the city’s pioneering gastropubs. This is the kind of pub that leans close to restaurant, with the food centred around a wood-fired Josper grill with seven different steak options ranging from $47 for a hangar to $120 for an 800gm rib eye. But there’s also pub classics like parmas, fish and chips, and burgers for around $30 — and of course plenty of beer on tap, although most of it is pretty boring.
Apart from the beer, this place goes well above and beyond your usual local boozer drinks-wise, with 27 wines by the glass including some serious options like a pinot from Burgundy, a petit chablis and even a sweet riesling from Frogmore Creek. There’s also a full page of cocktails including a signature Martini with rosewater and pickled chili brine, a Whiskey Sour topped with salted honey foam and an Old Fashioned smoked with redgum. Melbourne’s pubs have long been some of the best places in the city for a steak and glass of red, but it’s nice to see these folks taking the cocktail side of things seriously, too.
The Angel of Malvern
Out in the south east of the city, The Angel of Malvern reopened earlier this month as a multi-concept, multi level venue in the vein of The Espy and The Waterside, with a public bar offering your standard tap beers and pub classics, a Mediterranean-inspired restaurant called Flores featuring hand-made pastas and sliced-to-order salumi, and the surprise addition of Lately, a late night cocktail and hi-fi bar.
Upstairs at Lately, open Thursday to Sunday with live DJs Friday and Saturday, the cocktails are a serious craft affair offering options like the Latitude 35 with house-made mandarin aperitif, bourbon and nori, and the Autumn in Aomori with Japanese whisky, quince, black walnut, and amaro. Or you could just say fuck it and opt for a $575 bottle of 2017 Dom Perignon. It’s really not the type of thing you’d expect to find in a suburban pub 10 clicks from the CBD, so I think these drinks deserve a closer look. Stay tuned.
Around the Bars
Classy Kayla. Most folks would have heard by now that a couple of weeks ago Melbourne’s own Kayla Saito took out the Australian World Class cocktail competition finals, and will go on to represent us at the global finals in Scotland in October. Now that I’m back from my sojourn to Europe, I just wanted to say a personal congrats, as she’s one of the best in the game, and we should all be super proud to have her representing Aussie cocktail culture on the global stage.
Rest In Pasta, Old Friend. Hearts are sore on Brunswick Street this week after the passing of Massimo Di Sora, the longest-serving staff member at restaurant Marios and one of the most recognizable characters of Fitzroy hospo. I covered Marios 40th anniversary celebrations a few weeks ago for Boothby and got a few snaps of Massimo, and there’s also a lovely article about him published last week in Good Food. There’s a lesson to be taken from Massimo’s life and career about just being a good server your whole life. He didn’t want to be a brand ambassador or a venue owner or consultant or an influencer, he just wanted to be a good waiter, and he was, right until the end.
