In this briefing:
- The thinking behind new modern wine bar The Cave;
- Mr West grows up — less warehouse-party, more neighbourhood hangout;
- “We believe in Footscray”: why the team doubled down on a suburb doing it tough;
- Plus: Whisky Abbey returns this weekend, and a new wine-and-vinyl bar lands on Smith Street.
After over nine years in operation, the team behind Footscray’s Mr West is going again with a refresh of the upstairs bar and full renovation and new concept for what was previously their ground level bottleshop. While the top level bar remains instantly recognisable as the Mr West we know and love, the ground floor space is completely changed. The light-filled front of the room is now bright and open, with low tables and towering, poppy artwork on the high concrete walls. The sales counter and the fridges full of wine and beer have been moved to the back of the room, inviting you in to explore the space, with a long bar opposite set for drinking and dining in.
This is The Cave, a new concept from the Mr West team that has converted the bottle shop into a venue all its own — a fully realised modern wine bar where you can also buy bottles. Here you’ll find the same approach to quality independent producers as always, but there’s much more focus on settling in for a glass or two rather than buying and bolting.
“It was always an ambitious idea to do beer, and wine, and spirits, and cocktails,” all under the one roof, says co-owner Josh Hodges. “So now we have two spaces that compliment each other — both can champion the things we believe in, but take their own approach.”
Photos: Fred Siggins
Josh’s partner in life and business, Dimitra Dionytis, says they wanted to create an interactive and modern space where people could actually afford to drink and dine every week. “Melbourne is full of beautiful hospitality spaces, but you have to allocate your whole monthly budget to go there,” she says. “Or if you’re going out for cheap eats, the experience of being in those venues reflects that. We wanted to create a venue that’s beautiful, where people feel good and want to be, but without having to drop hundreds of dollars.”
Josh and Dim are achieving that with bargains like a delicious Chenin for $13 by the glass, and Thai-influenced food thanks to Chef Ploy from their Brunswick restaurant, Bar Spontana. As you would expect from Ploy, these dishes are epic; the standard wine bar charcuterie board is replaced with a platter of Northern Thai-style sausages and pickled veg, all made in house.
There’s also a seasonal som tum pounded to order in a big mortar and pestle behind the bar. Usually made with green papaya, this week the spicy, salty salad is bright with fresh strawberries. “The fruit in the som tum will change with the seasons, so it allows us to keep things fresh and exciting without reinventing the wheel,” Josh says. “We also wanted to offer a main course for less than $30,so there’s always going to be a curry for $29, or a larb for $25.”
Upstairs, the changes to Mr West are more subtle. The long, high-ceilinged warehouse space is still flooded with natural light and draped in the twisting greenery of devil’s ivy. But there’s a softness that wasn’t here before, with booths upholstered in muted tartan and a big red pool table right at the top of the stairs. The previous design leaned hard into the industrial vibe, with wire bunker-style light fittings and raw chipboard. Now the floral rug under the pool table and the stained glass sconces juxtapose the bare concrete walls, so that Mr West now feels less like a warehouse party and more like a neighbourhood hangout.
“When we first opened, Josh was in his 20s and so that was our client base, too,” says manager Jack Roebuk. “Having been here for nine years and cultivating that crowd, those folks are still in the area, but, just like us, they’re moving into a different phase of their life. This is a venue that needs to grow with the community, so the refresh we’ve done is a reflection of us changing as people and valuing different things.”
Josh explains that they wanted the space to be more pub-like, representing a sense of community, comfort and nostalgia. That approach shows up in the drinks offering with a reduced beer list that focuses more on accessibility, while still having a solid rotation of the weird and wonderful for the beer nerds that have come to expect them.
“Rather than trying to have every new release beer or cool spirit as soon as it comes out, we want to make sure everything on the list serves a purpose,” Jack says. “We’re also doing things like offering small or large wine pours, and a house larger for $10 all the time.”
Cocktail-wise, the approach is more about fun and accessibility, with drinks rotating in and out one by one, rather than fully changing the list each season, and three cornerstone cocktails — a Bloody Mary, a Martini, and an Australian Sazerac — that won’t change. Currently, drinks like the Strawberry Spider with Rhubi, and Punch & Ladle Rhubarbero with creaming soda, provide an easy-drinking combo of childhood nostalgia and local craft ingredients.
The renovation both up and down represents a renewed investment in the concept, the community and the people behind Mr West, as well as this neighbourhood, which hasn’t had the easiest time of it recently.
As Dim tells me: “We believe in Footscray.”
Around the Bars
Malt Madness. Melbourne’s own two day whisky festival, Whisky Abbey, is returning this weekend at a new location, the Timber Yard in Port Melbourne. Hosted by Casa de Vinos, this top shelf festival hosts producers from Japan, Scotland, Tasmania and around Australia, as well as old and rare bars operated by Whisky & Alement and The Elysian Whisky Bar, a cocktail bar, food trucks, and heaps of masterclasses. Sunday is the trade day, so if you don’t have a ticket, hit up your favourite whisky rep for a chance to come and taste some of the world’s finest.
Every cloud has… A new wine and vinyl bar, Silver Linings, is set to open on Smith Street in Collingwood this month, thanks to hospo veterans Ben Clark and Simon Aukett. The team behind the short-lived 98 Lygon in Brunswick East have also brought their head chef Brian MacAlister’s along for the ride, planning to serve hibachi-grilled bites designed to pair with natural and biodynamic-leaning wines. Music will be pumped through Pioneer decks and vintage Wharfedale speakers and curated by local and international DJs.
