Velveteen Rabbit-inspired bar flipping Caxton Street’s drinking and dining scene on its head
Brisbane’s newest art deco speakeasy is one for the storybooks, inspired by a classic 1920’s children’s classic, and offers next-level adaptations of modern Australian pub food.
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A mother, her son and his wife are an unlikely trio to open a 1920s, storybook inspired bar and restaurant, but the second you step into Caxton Street’s newest haunt, its clear to see why it just works.
Velveteen Rabbit, in the former Brewski Bar space in Petrie Terrace’s bustling dining hub, is Brisbane’s newest prohibition-inspired venue, but the vibes are far from sketchy, instead giving warm familiarity.
Co-owners Timothy Tomlin, his wife Stephanie and his mum Annette, have decades of combined experience in the hospitality industry, and knew they wanted to open their own venue, but when a previous hoped-for purchase fell through, they felt they were back to square one.
But in August, they happened to get in contact with a realtor, two weeks before the Caxton Street venue came on the market, and were able to seal the deal, starting renovations in early September.
After the tragic loss of his father in early 2024, Tomlin knew he wanted to honour his dad’s memory in his new venture, and with his father born in the ‘year of the rabbit’, the trio decided rabbits had to be part of the plan.
As they sat brainstorming names, Stephanie threw out the name Velveteen Rabbit, having never heard of the 1920s novel, and after a quick google and a read of the story, the rest is now history.
The logo, designed by Tomlin’s tattooist, Nic Harley at Human Canvas Tattoo in Springfield Lakes, also features a single blue eye, in memory of Tomlin’s dad.
The trio knew they wanted the venue to stand out as a modern, elevated version of their concept, and noted the best way to do that was by building a team that held the same values and could come together as a cohesive unit.
When Tomlin set out on the hunt for a bar manager, he knew he loved the work the teams at Death and Taxes and Dr Gimlet were doing, and eventually Isaac Ohsberg from the former decided to join the team.
In another fateful moment, head chef Kyle McNamara had been working in Beechmont and was hoping to relocate back to Brisbane, when Tomlin’s mushroom farmer uncle and a contact of McNamara’s recommended Velveteen Rabbit.
McNamara and Ohsberg have now formed an interesting and enviable relationship between the kitchen and bar, where they actively collaborate and inspire one another to create a cohesive menu for their guests.
McNamara has crafted a menu that Tomlin describes as being “this but not that”, featuring next-level adaptations of modern Australian pub food, with an extensive focus on sustainability and keeping the kitchen as low-waste as possible.
“Our chef takes the concept of pub food and flips it on its head,” Tomlin said.
“We have this dish on our bar snacks menu that is the chef’s take on fish and chips called ‘fish and crisps’, so he has his own house made salt and vinegar crisps that he serves with what can only be described as a fish pate.
“So he takes the fish fillets, cures them overnight, smokes them over the fire and then blends them up with the spices and herbs and then serves that with our house-made garden seasoning and house-fermented chilli oil.”
Another standout on the menu, and McNamara’s personal favourite dish, is the KFC carrots which is the venues take on fried chicken.
The team take carrots cut into chicken wing shapes, breaded, deep fried and served with a buffalo sauce that McNamara makes from the juice of the carrot tops, served alongside cured cream and the chilli oil.
“I’ve always been a huge sucker for fried chicken, so it’s a really, really fun way to play on that differently, like buffalo wings but not buffalo wings.
Ohsberg said he took inspiration from the bars of Melbourne and wanted to level-up Brisbane’s offerings.
“I think we are doing some really funky stuff, cocktail wise, very innovative with the methods we are using, especially for Brisbane. We see a lot of it happening in Melbourne right now, but not so much here,” Ohsberg said.
“Typical ones are things like clarification, different sous vide methods, cold extraction, fat washing is a classic one.
“We’ve done something where I’ve used blueberries for something and then taken the spent blueberries and turned them into a leather and created a roll-up type thing that is served with a cocktail.
“Something we do that I haven’t really seen is reusing the curds (from the clarifying process) and whipping them with white chocolate, and we use half of that to reuse to clarify again, to create these two really different drinks and then we use half to spread it out, dehydrate it and make it into this wafer.”
International, locally-franchised brewery Brew Dog has also collaborated with the Tomlins to white-label one of their beers to hold the Velveteen Rabbit logo, which will join their extensive beer offerings.
The venue is also set to open the doors to their otherworldly ‘rabbit-hole’ speakeasy in the coming weeks, where guests can head into a cocktail experience beyond their wildest dreams.
Details about the Rabbit Hole’s offerings are on the low for now, but watch this space for the reveal.
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