Poison Ivy Bar makes the multiverse with California Lane sibling venues

Two comic-obsessed mates talk about their three venues making waves in Brisbane, the home “lab” where the cocktails are tested and how one takes three days to make.

Steve Maiden, chef, with owner Marc Grey. Picture: Steve Pohlner

An unlikely villain is leading the charge as the Fortitude Valley’s California Lane makes a stamp on Brisbane’s hospitality scene.

Poison Ivy Bar is the latest of three comic book themed venues to be launched in California Lane by long-time friends and self-professed comic book nerds, Marc Grey and chef Steve Maiden.

Chef Steve Maiden holds the Bang Bang Cauliflower next to owner Marc Grey. Picture: Steve Pohlner

Named after the Batman comic’s eco-terrorist villain of the same name, the Poison Ivy Bar joins it sibling venues, 1st Edition and Harley Quinn, to become a highlight for Valley-goers looking for something a little out-of-the-ordinary.

Grey, owner of the three venues, as well as Destino Sanctuary Cove and master mixologist, joked that the latest venue’s namesake had been somewhat of an awakening for him.

“I loved Uma Thurman in the Batman Forever film, as a young kid it was the first ‘oh, bad guys can be good looking too’ moment,” he said.

“Our first thought for the space was a heroes to villains theme but the space already had a lot of greenery and it just sort of evolved and I won out.”

Poison Ivy Bar in the Valley. Picture: Steve Pohlner

The laneway trio is now offering a specialty ‘multiverse’ menu, named after the concept of multiple universes existing at the same time popularised in the latest Marvel movies, which will be available across the three venues, with the entire laneway space licenced.

Each venue will have a specialty item, which for Poison Ivy is its Poison Ivy cocktail - a mesmerising blend of bay leaf cordial, lemon myrtle gin, sea salt and celery shrub, with each ingredient crafted in-house by Grey.

The Tesseract with Gin, italicus, blue Curacao, lemon, fruity smoke bubble.

The Poison Ivy with Gin blend, Bayleaf cordial, celery shrub, sea salt, burnt Bay Leaf. Pictures: Steve Pohlner

“I have a lab at home where I test things and then I bring it in on the weekend to test it out,” he said.

“We don’t pre-batch anything and it’s really important to us that everything is fresh and we know how long it will last, so we know exact sugar content and things like that.”

Grey said when he and Maiden first launched 1st Edition four years ago they wanted to create a venue that was a bit ‘edgy’ and offered a different experience than anywhere else, and when the Avengers movies came out, they realised superheroes were an easy, fun way to link food and drink, aside from something they both already loved.

Wall art at Poison Ivy. Picture: Steve Pohlner

“The Mysterio cocktail has a bubble on its head to mimic the superhero, and has been around forever, that was really the genesis of the whole concept,” he said.

“How can we make a drink mimic the superhero and play on that?’ and it just took on life from there.”

Other cocktail highlights include Grey’s favourite, Invisible Girl, which tastes just like a lamington and takes him three days to make, featuring lamington-infused vodka, coconut water and cream, strawberry paste, lemon and vanilla bean, which separates and creates a beautifully layered cocktail.

Teriyaki mushroom, potato, goats cheese flatbread, at Poison Ivy Bar. Picture: Steve Pohlner

The menu across the three spaces has been curated by chef Maiden, and features a range of snacks and small bites, which Grey said resonates more with the clientele in the area, than full meals.

The laneway trio is also set to host regular events, including their already popular Lonely Disco, a house music laneway party, which has seen over 350 people attend for each of its events so far.

The venues are also hosting comedy nights, and intend to host comic-themed trivia nights, and are also available for hire.

“We can hire out some or all of the venue, and they can use our kitchen themselves or we can do it for them, it is a really great space,” Grey said.