One step inside Braddon's newest venue, Wine Room, and you're already feeling like you've walked into the living room of your coolest friend.
You know he's got a great wine list, and is a dab hand in the kitchen, without getting too carried away; you just know you're going to have a great night.
And this is just the way the team behind the space, hospitality group FIXATE (Cafe Gather, Blackbird), wanted it.
"We wanted to create a venue that was designed around our love of sharing great food and wine with mates," says group director Will Fisher.
Tucked in an alley behind the award-winning Cafe Gather, Wine Room is casual yet elevated. You wouldn't expect less from the team given their previous experience. Fisher's, the brains behind Gather, with Marcellus Heleta (Monster, RAKU and Akiba) and Paolo Sossi (The Marylebone, London, The Trust, Melbourne and Goldfish, Sydney) on the board.
They've brought in Josh Smith-Thirkell (QT Hotel Group) as a business partner and executive chef to round out the team.
The fit out has been done by Pat Rose (Prose Design), Nikolas Webster (Lekkier) and Darcy Henderson (Greenlight). It's an intimate space with natural textures of exposed brick, leather banquette seating, rich green feature tiles, recycled timber and statement lighting.
It's 40 seats, with some space outside, and there's a private dining room, featuring a dramatic flower installation by Wiluna. We'd like to claim one of the stools near the cantilevered window, which opens up the whole space, as ours for the summer please.
There we could make our way through Smith-Thirkell's menu which is made for sharing. Think Clair de Lune oysters from Steve Feletti in Batemans Bay, served with a fermented yuzu granita, a Balinese-inspired beef tartare with prawn crackers and betel leaves that you eat like little tacos; sweet and sour eggplant with fried garlic that's quickly become a favourite with diners.
"We'll be changing things up pretty regularly," he says, obviously loving cooking on a smaller scale.
"It's all about food that tastes good, there's no theme, it's about what I can get my hands on, how we can work with the wine menu, keeping it fun."
The wine list, with everything available by the glass, will also be an evolutionary thing. The team has regular tastings, talk about the menu, change it up depending on the weather and the mood they're all in.
There's a mix of international and Australian wines. At the moment Carla Rodeghiero's Canberra District Sapling Yard rose is there. Highly recommended, a textured rose that works well with the menu.
Wine Room is open from 4.30pm five days, Tuesday to Saturday, dinner service starts at sixish. Before then it's the ideal spot to try the "cheese and meat" menu where you can build your own platters with an extensive selection of cheese and charcuterie.
It's open late too, 11.30pm on weeknights, later still on Friday and Saturday. Drop in for a wine on the way home, finish the night with a little snack. Perfect.
- Wine Room. 24 Mort Street, Braddon. Tuesday to Saturday, from 4.30pm.
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wineroom.bar
