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There’s much to be said for a slow evolution. While many restaurants do their best to come out of the gate swinging, presenting a full version of themselves on day one, it is perhaps more natural to start small, get to know your customers and surrounds, and grow into the venue.

That has been the trajectory for Albert’s, the neighbourhood wine bar on the winding streets next to the Armadale train station. Opened in late 2021, Albert’s (named for artist Albert Tucker, who lived nearby and once painted the 19th century building where Albert’s resides) began as a cafe while waiting on its liquor licence. Once the paperwork came through, the wine flowed in the evenings, along with a restrained menu of snacks.

Last year, owners Doug Milledge, Toby Koffman and Alice Freer took over the next-door lease when its hairdresser tenant vacated, expanding the room and adding more pavement seating out front. They added a marble-topped bar to the indoor space, which now has two rooms, brick walls lined with wine, and a range of seating options: cafe tables, banquettes, high communal tables, and bar seating.

The look of the place is classic Euro-Melbourne, with its linen curtains and wrought-iron awning over outdoor seating. It’s the type of place you walk past and immediately wish you were inside with someone you love, sipping something delicious.

Over winter, more changes have been afoot. Tom Ferne has come on as head chef, after stints at Centonove in Kew, Untitled in Richmond, and Brae. New kitchen equipment has arrived, and Ferne has expanded the menu. Where it used to be mostly snackage of the uncooked variety plus one simple pasta dish, it’s now much more possible to put together a full meal.

There are still some lovely antipasto-type options, including olives ($8) and a cheese plate ($35). But it’s well worth delving into Ferne’s more creative dishes, both hot and cold. Burrata ($22) is accompanied by a zippy salad of shaved fennel and citrus, as well as a dusting of dukkah and crisp charred garlic toast. There’s crab toast ($12) encrusted with sesame seeds that’s a play on Cantonese prawn toast, a wildly decadent version at that.

Giant Spanish beans ($18) cooked until creamy on the inside, are studded with chorizo and dressed with a subtle mandarin dressing. It’s a dish true to its tapas-inspired roots – somewhere between a nibble and a meal, and exactly as satisfying as you want that in-between, wine-friendly handful of bites to be.

Steak tartare ($25), while obviously made with beautiful beef, was the only dish that lacked a little personality, its horseradish cream not doing quite enough to season the cow.

“Every neighbourhood deserves a place like Albert’s: one that speaks to the locale’s history as well as its future.”

There are a couple of bowls of pasta on offer for those looking for something more substantial, a simple rigatoni with vodka sauce ($30) and a beautiful casarecce with a mellow, meaty duck ragu ($37). It’s exactly the type of meal you want from a neighbourhood wine bar: filling, comforting, slightly better than what you can easily pull off at home. The addition of complimentary good bread alongside is a rare and welcome treat.

A new fryer has made a number of things possible, including a dessert of ricotta doughnuts with chocolate anglaise ($18), puffy, warm and satisfying.

While the by-the-glass list could be a tad broader, the bottle list is fantastic, with interesting Australian and European picks in every price range.

The progression of Albert’s has been slow, and thoughtful, and it seems as though the owners are genuinely taking the needs of the neighbourhood into consideration with every step. They recently opened on Monday nights, and if a recent Monday – with most of the seats inside filled, and even a few outside in the chill – is any indication, customers are glad for the early week option.

Every neighbourhood deserves a place like Albert’s: one that speaks to the locale’s history as well as its future; where you can dine in the glow of a pretty old storefront on thoughtful, straightforward food; where the welcome is friendly and considered. Armadale is lucky to have it, and to take part in its continued evolution.