New city hots spots
Winter is a cosy time to savour the flavours and character at dozens of city cafes, restaurants and bars scattered around Melbourne and the city’s fringe. Take some time to explore these new hot spots:
Melbourne Yacht Club Hotel
G13-G14 Waterfront City Ph: 03 9642 1227
This brand new venue provides a stylish, sophisticated, yet relaxed atmosphere to enjoy everything the Docklands has on offer. A fabulous club lounge offering modern dining options is just the beginning of an amazing 18-month journey, where one will watch the Melbourne Yacht Club Hotel unfold to a Boutique Hotel. The lower deck offers a one page menu, which draws inspiration from fresh seasonal produce and is complemented by a Victorian influenced wine list. The upper deck offers a more formal setting with amazing floor to ceiling windows overlooking Victoria Harbour and Melbourne’s city skyline.
For further information, go to www.mych.com.au
Blue Diamond Social Saloon and Cabaret
15th floor, 123 Queen Street Ph: (03) 8601 2720
Blue Diamond is the latest investment of nightlife guru Henry Maas - formerly of Fitzroy's Black Cat Cafe and the Night Cat. Mr Maas wanted to open a club for the city's older (i.e. 30-plus), creative crowd seeking a place where conversation was more than a tawdry pick-up line. A yearly membership to the exclusive club - described as ‘the lounge room of Melbourne's elite’ - costs about $500.
Cabinet bar
11 Rainbow Alley Ph: (03) 9654 0915
The founders of Melbourne’s beloved Hairy Canary and Canary Club have teamed up with local PR firm CPR to create Cabinet - a heady cocktail of politics, news, drinks and food. The intricate wallpaper, embroidered cushions and eclectic furniture convey an atmosphere of French bar chic. It’s cosy, warm and stylish. Cabinet offers lunches from Wednesday to Friday and dinner every night, but is closed Sundays.
For information www.cabinetbar.com.au
Sister Bella
Sniders Lane, Melbourne
The new sister venue to the iconic St Jerome’s bar, Sister Bella offers a straight-to-the-point selection of drinks and cheap eats. The haphazard arrangement of oversized lampshades, wrought-iron gates, oil paintings, and the discreet back alley entrance at the end of Sniders Lane makes this an ideal cosy winter hideaway.
Roxanne Parlour
2 Coverlid Place, Melbourne
Get cosy and listen to some live sounds at Roxanne Parlour - a new inner city venue showcasing the best of Melbourne’s live music scene. Perched above a pool hall on Coverlid Place, this roomy space has heaps of comfy couches and is the perfect place to kick back and enjoy some live tunes.
New Gold Mountain
Liverpool Street, Melbourne CBD Ph: (03) 9650 8859
Tucked away above Double Happiness and behind an unmarked door, this secretive little lounge is ideal for a clandestine rendezvous over top-shelf cocktails. It is named after the Chinese miners that came to Australia in the gold-rush to search for the ‘New Gold Mountain’.
For further information, check out www.newgoldmountain.org
Alumbra
Shed 9 Central Pier, 161 Harbour Esplanade, Docklands Ph: (03) 8606 4444
After five years as one of Melbourne's leading waterfront venues, Alumbra will relocate and be ‘reborn’ at Shed 9 Central Pier, Docklands (behind the Telstra Dome) this month. Enjoy a lazy coffee during the day or kick your heels up with an exotic cocktail at night. Alumbra will have a bar menu available throughout the week as well as its renowned gourmet BBQ on weekends.
For opening details please check www.alumbra.com.au
Milano's
215 Queen Street, Melbourne Ph: 03 9670 2157
The team from Melbourne’s renowned Caffe e Torta (314 little Collins St) has just opened a sister café – Milano Café at 215 Queen Street. Milano’s menu is similar to the winning formula at Caffe e Torta with a simple Italian fare and ‘mamma’ still in charge of the sauces and the daily specials. A daily soup and pasta is on offer, such as a traditional spaghetti bolognese and minestrone. The carefully selected wines are mostly Australian with some European varieties.
Kouzina Restaurant and Bar
3 Southgate Avenue Ph: 9682 2999
Situated in the Southgate arts and leisure precinct with its balcony overlooking the Yarra River, the new Kouzina Restaurant and Bar serves a modern and upmarket twist on the traditional Greek souvlaki, moussaka and dips. Chef Theo Kostoglou is one of the trail blazers of modern Greek dining.
Sentido Funf
245 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy Ph: (03) 9416 2689
Simple and laidback, Sentido Funf is an inner city drinking oasis. Boasting an outdoor tropical beer garden complete with a bar and DJ gazebo, this is the perfect place to linger on a balmy night, or snuggle up under the outdoor heaters during the chillier months.
For further information visit www.sentidofunf.com.au