Rascal in Brunswick serves worldly wine and elevated food worth travelling to
Sydney Road is known for many things - froufrou furniture, parmesan wheels, live music and terrible traffic – and now a terrific new wine bar where eating’s not cheating and there’s a sexy new cocktail to try.
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In just a few short years Aperol Spritz has gone from a bartender’s curiosity to the monster that drank summer, its lurid orange shadow cast over every bar across the land.
But this year, the cool kids of Brunswick have slaked their summertime thirsts with the altogether sexier Portuguese Spritz, which swaps the Aperol for white port and tops it with tonic, prosecco and a splash of grapefruit ($16).
Sharp, tart and outrageously refreshing, it’s just one of the many cheeky tricks that Rascal has up its sleeve.
Poor old Sydney Road. Not only does it suffer Melbourne’s Worst Traffic™, but a food boom is occurring just a block over transforming Lygon St into one of the city’s hottest eat streets.
Old Palm Liquor and Faye are just a couple of notable newcomers joining Etta, Bluebonnet Barbecue, Teta Mona and the original 400 Gradi.
But at least those on this side of the (train) tracks have this fabulously stylish new wine bar in which to sip and sup with a whole lot of class.
With a chef who’s notched up time in some fancy fine diners – Sepia in Sydney; Doot Doot Doot on the Mornington Peninsula – and a cellar stocked with 120-odd bottles of worldly wines, Rascal brings elevated wine-dining to a strip that’s surprisingly lacking in such options.
Almost a decade ago, Philippa Sibley at Brunswick’s first destination restaurant – Albert St Food and Wine – was supposed to herald Sydney Rd’s new golden age of dining.
But the street long known for froufrou furniture (Franco Cozzo), parmesan wheels (Mediterranean Wholesalers), eye-burning bridal dresses and suburban strippers (Maxine’s) never ran with that ball and A1 Bakery’s reign as the best spot on the street for a feed continued unchallenged.
Today you can find very good falafels from Very Good Falafels, very good coffee from Lobbs, very good pho from Good Days – and now thanks to Rascal, a very good glass of grenache blanc or even a Greek xinomavaro.
It’s a terrifically handsome space; its former life as a cafe erased, thanks to co-owner John Benedict Ryan (Ascot Vale’s The Vale), with a palette of black and tan with bentwood chairs and comfortable banquettes. There’s a bar to perch at, high stools around a communal bench, and a few different spaces in which to make yourself comfortable, including cute little booths for two. Potted plants soften the exposed brick walls and a couple of quirky black and white murals add interest.
Cloth napkins, hefty cutlery and elegant stemware telegraph the ambitions of both bar and kitchen that are then delivered by switched on staff welcoming and warm.
Elliott Pinn’s menu ticks off serious snacks before seguing into plates of various heft that are as pretty to look at as they are to eat.
I’d return in a flash for the crab and seaweed butter on toasted brioche – an explosion of sweet crab, salty sea and buttery bread given heft by a generous shake of furikake, the Japanese seasoning that mainlines an umami hit ($8 each).
There’s fried chicken with house hot sauce that can be pimped with caviar for the ultimate in highbrow-lowbrow snacking ($13/$33) but more subtle pleasures can be found in Pinn’s charcuterie.
His wagyu bresaola is excellent, the ruby air-dried beef served whisper thin so it dissolves into a complex cloud of sweet and tangy barn and farm.
There might be a salami, too, and a terrine with mustard and pickles to round out the plate ($24).
Vegetables are shown equal respect, whether roasted cauliflower given a subcontinental accent with curry oil and tamarind ($16) or Italy’s classic combo of charred zucchini with mint and marjoram here served with stracchino, a soft, creamy cow’s milk cheese ($17).
Sunshiny tomatoes of various hues come interspersed with slices of juicy peach and served with almonds in both crushed and blitzed form.
Mead with Geraldton wax adds viscous sweetness to an altogether alluring plate that sings of summer ($18).
According to the Melbourne Wine Bar decree, the menu must feature raw fish and meat and Pinn obliges with a tartare with a twist – finely diced kangaroo with daikon and white soy, $18 – and a very clever fish dish. Raw sea bream dotted with avocado puree is doused in blueberry dashi.
The lot is then hidden under curls of shaved kohlrabi, its crunch amped with horseradish heat to excellent effect. It’s colourful and clever and uniquely delicious ($19).
Bigger plates include supple ribbons of pappardelle with the fire of housemade ‘''''nduja, cima di rape (turnip tops) delivering bitter bite while a snowstorm of cured yolk adds golden creaminess to another very enjoyable dish ($26).
It’s food for drinking with and the forward-looking list has interest at all levels, whether you’re into a racy Watervale riesling, a textural Yarra Valley savagnin or Californian pinot. There’s ample choice at the $50 bottle mark, with those willing to pay a bit more rewarded with a worldly collection chosen with care.
Beers are equally impressively curated – this is bearded Brunswick, after all – with 60 odd bottles and cans catering to all styles and tastes filling the fridge.
And as too-cool-for-school as this all sounds, Rascal is approachably warm and welcomingly accommodating.
Along with the expected quorum of local Millennials there are enough older downsizers spending their kids’ avocados to make for a properly broad church who are making this their local.
Contemporary and cool without being cold, come for the spritz but stay for the all the other hits at this welcome addition to Sydney Rd.
READ MORE:
THE RESTAURANT THAT MAKES DRINKING WINE FUN AGAIN
WHY MARTHA’S TABLE WILL FLOAT YOUR BOAT
HOW THIS RESTAURANT IS PERFECTING FLAVOURS AND REDUCING WASTE
RASCAL
341 Sydney Rd, Brunswick
rascalbrunswick.com
Open: Wed-Friday from 5pm; Fri-Sun from noon
Go-to dish: Crab toast
SCORE: 14 / 20