Max Gawn opens first restaurant Motor in Hawthorn this October after months-long delays

Dees star Max Gawn is opening his new restaurant with a wine twist this month— but the process hasn’t come without setbacks.

Dees star Max Gawn didn’t just get into restaurants because it was the thing footballers did.

Instead his hospitality passion comes from a more sentimental place.

“My mum’s been in cafes for years and when I was younger it seemed like the best job in the world,” he said.

“I wanted to be like my mum growing up, but I didn’t realise how tolling the job would be.”

The Melbourne premiership player will next week open Motor, a fire-powered restaurant with a wine bent, with hospo mates Craig Tate, Richard Donovan and former Dees player Matt Jones.

“There is definitely a stereotype with footballers that as soon as you get drafted you have to get into the pub game,” he said.

Max Gawn, Craig Taite, Richard Donovan and Matt Jones will open Motor on October 11.

“But I really love it and wanted to create something for myself. Wine wasn’t something I was interested in early on but that comes with age.”

You may see Gawn sipping a big bold Barossa shiraz (only during the off-season) at the Hawthorn restaurant when it opens next Tuesday, after months of delays brought on by construction industry supply issues.

“The (wood fire) oven was the main sticking point, as well as supply issues and then all that comes with putting an open fire inside a restaurant and making sure it’s above board,” Tate said.

Motor will be a step up from East End; Gawn’s first wine bar with Tate and Donovan.

The 120-seater bistro will be open six days a week, serving lunch and dinner in a dining room, as well as snacks and drinks at the bar and alfresco area in the warmer months. There’s also a private dining space for intimate gatherings.

The boys have designed the menu around their 200-bottle strong, European-leaning wine collection, but Tate insists the food will be equally as important as drinks.

Max Gawn already owns East End Wine Bar with Craig Tate and Rich Donovan. Picture: Getty Images.

“Wine is our focus and something we are so passionate about,” he said.

“Running East End opened our minds to what (wine) is out there and we think it’s really important to showcase them with equally good food to match. Our food won’t come second fiddle.”

Almost everything in the kitchen will see the inside of the wood fire oven such as half roast chicken lapping in a French brown chasseur sauce and black Angus scotch fillet with cafe de paris butter.

Small bites include pickled mussels with whipped cod roe and burrata and oyster mushrooms.

Nods to the building’s first life as a 1912 motor garage have also been preserved in the modern revamp.

Motor, 735 Glenferrie Rd, Hawthorn, opens October 11. Dinner Tuesday to Saturday, lunch Thursday to Sunday.

Sydney sweets institution Black Star Pastry has made over its St Kilda store. Picture: Jenifer Jagielski.

Cake to car

St Kilda natives can have their cake – and eat it from their car, too.

Sydney sweets institution Black Star Pastry has revamped its first Melbourne store, relaunching with a new look and cake concierge service this Saturday.

Sweet tooths will be able to order their favourite cakes ahead of time and collect kerbside from the Acland St store, with staff throwing in a free coffee with all orders.

Black Star Pastry general manager Danielle Lasnavsky said the drive-by cake collection would only be available in St Kilda.

“Since Covid, our business has grown a lot with the increased awareness of online ordering and pick-up,” she said.

“The Acland St site had become so popular with locals, we wanted to give something back on the other side of lockdown.”

The St Kilda outpost first opened as a pop-up in summer 2019, but took a two-year pandemic hiatus while the brand launch edits Chadstone Shopping Centre location.

The new-look store still has its sporting stadium seating, with a smaller front of house section to allow for the larger production kitchen out the back.

Aside from cakes, a suite of sweet and savoury treats will also be available all day, including a ham and cheese croissant, egg and bacon rolls and ratatouille tarts, with St Ali coffee on the machine.

Black Star Pastry, 2c Acland St, St Kilda, Wed-Sun, 8am to 4pm.