New restaurant, bar and facelift for Rydges Melbourne
Rydges Melbourne located in the city’s theatre precinct and adjacent to Chinatown has recently completed its multi-million dollar ground floor refurbishment.
As well as updating the hotel façade and lobby, Rydges has replaced its former CBD bar with a chic new restaurant and bar named Locanda (which is Italian for ‘The Inn’).
Locanda is in the capable hands of venue manager Andrew DiMattina whose other successful restaurants include Society, Blue Train, Il Gambero, DiMattina’s, Alto and Mario’s.
Head chef Matthew English (formerly of Café Di Stasio, Il Solito Posto, Sud, Nostro Barretto and Italy I) has designed a menu of traditional, peasant style Italian dishes with a modern twist.
Locanda features warm and welcoming décor, a sexy red circular bar and floor-to-ceiling wine racks – making it the perfect place for a drink, snack or meal for hotel guests, theatre-goers and city dwellers.
In other news from the Rydges chain, a new hotel – the Rydges Bell City complex – in the inner northern suburb of Preston is scheduled to open in August 2008.
The $120 million development, with a 924-bed capacity, will be Rydges’ largest property in Australia.
More information: Rydges Melbourne, 186 Exhibition Street, Melbourne. Website: www.rydges.com/melbourne
Media contact: Belinda Lee, Rydges Melbourne on (03) 9635 1269 or email belinda_lee@rydges.com