Short bites: Richmond’s Saint Urban makes way for Waygood neighbourhood bar
Saint Urban restaurant has taken on a new life post-lockdown, reopening as a funky, neighbourhood eatery. More food news with Kara Irving.
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Hospitality veteran Martin Pirc will launch Waygood on July 1, after quietly closing the neighbourhood icon which fed and watered locals for six years.
Pirc, behind CBD bars Punch Lane and Juliet, hadn’t planned on rolling out his new concept so quickly, but the timing felt right after reconnecting with former colleague and hospo icon Roger Fowler (of Stokehouse, Prince of Wales fame).
“This idea had been percolating inside of me and I’d wanted to make a change for a while. I wasn’t sure what that was, but I was listening, and Covid precipitated that and gave me clarity and definition,” he said.
Waygood will be a relaxed eatery and bar with a veg-forward menu and wine on tap and by the bottle.
The name Waygood came from a sign uncovered on the building’s facade during renovations.
“It was the name of a company from 100 years back called Johns and Waygood Pty Ltd. We thought that looked way good.”
Dad jokes aside, Pirc said the name also reflected the venue’s ethos.
“We wanted this to be a place people could visit a few times a week and eat nourishing food,” he said.
Waygood will operate on a cave à manger model allowing customers to buy wine at retail prices to enjoy in-house for a flat $25 fee.
The 80-bottle wine list will be largely Victorian-focused, and include drops from other Australian and international producers.
Fowler has influenced Waygood’s short, seasonal menu, which will be handwritten weekly to capture that neighbourhood charm, and include homely meals such as eggplant parmigiana and a fish, fennel and potato pie.
Waygood will open in Richmond on Thursday July 1.
INFAMOUS SPIRITS ON POUR AT 1806
Irish expat Ciaran Duffy is raising a glass to oddball spirits at a new hidden bar.
Potent poitin and aniseedy arak will take centre stage at The Understudy, a secret watering hole inside Melbourne’s iconic 1806 bar.
Venue manager Duffy wanted to shake things up after the business was bought out last year and create a space to serve lesser-known spirits from around the world.
“These are the B-sides. Gin and whisky are platinum, but we’re offering the unreleased stuff,” Duffy said.
Poitin, made from malted barley and known for its notoriously high alcohol content, will be among the eight spirit-based cocktails on The Understudy’s drinks list.
“It’s the predecessor of whisky, a clear liquid sometimes with a high proof of 90 per cent, made from malted barley in small copper pots,” Duffy said.
Croatia’s slivovitz, a plum brandy, Denmark’s aquavit, described as “a gin with no juniper” as well as more familiar tipples like mescal and pisco, will also appear on Duffy’s first cocktail list, which will change every two months.
Tasting paddles will allow curious drinkers to try each spirit in its purest form.
The Understudy shares 1806’s snack offering of seasonal local and European cheeses and charcuterie.
As for how to access this secret space? Duffy said there were smoke and mirrors involved.
“When you enter 1806, take a left down the stairs to find the secret entrance. You may have to push something, maybe it’s a mirror, I won’t give too much away,” he said.
The Understudy opens June 24. 1806.com.au
BREWERY’S NEW DIGS
Sailors Grave will open a new multimillion-dollar brewery and beer hall in East Gippsland.
Owners Chris and Gab Moore plan to move their current facility at the Orbost butter factory to their farm between Marlo and Cape Conran, after receiving a $2.35m bushfire relief government grant.
The new site, dubbed Dunetown, will include an upgraded brewing facility and beer hall, as well as educational ‘Drunken Botanical Beer Garden’ inspired by the duo’s background in landscape design.
A pilot social enterprise malting plant, to process locally-grown grain, is also on the cards.
“We always wanted to have a farm brewery,” Ms Moore said.
“While the butter factory has been a great home for us, it was time to realise our dream … which we never would have been able to achieve without that funding.”
Moore said the new facility would increase its annual beer production volume from about 300,000 litres to one million litres and help Sailors Grave’s international export demands.
The grant from both the state and federal government’s local economic recovery program will fund about half of the project.
Dunetown is set to open early 2023.
FORAGE AND FEAST
Jackalope Hotel’s annual forage-to-feast Truffle Trinity dinner will now be held over two nights in July.
The luxe experience includes a Red Hill Truffles hunt, a five-course degustation dinner at the Mornington Peninsula hotel’s on-site restaurant Doot Doot Doot and an overnight stay.
Throughout July, Moreton Bay bugs with truffle mornay and duck fat truffle fries will join the restaurant’s menu and Flaggerdoot bar will be pouring truffle negronis and Penicillins made with truffle oil fat-washed bourbon.
Tickets available for Wednesday, July 14 only. All inclusive tickets $550 per person, twin-share, for accommodation, dinner and experiences. Dinner only, $160 per person.
HAWKA RETURNS
Popular uni pub the Hawthorn Hotel will reopen Tuesday after taking a Covid-forced hiatus in 2020. The Hawka’s dining room and beer garden have been given a makeover, and there will be some new food and drink offerings. The classic chicken parma and signature double beef and bacon burger are here to stay, as are $15 cocktails like Aperol spritz and espresso martinis.
Tight-arse Tuesdays will also make a comeback.
Weekly specials begin on June 28. thehawthornhotel.com.au
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