Short bites: The new Bayside brewery worth a trip
It started with a single pale ale, now this new Bayside brewery boasts 18 rotating taps. Dan Stock brings you Melbourne’s latest food news.
Food
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It started with an XPA (extra pale ale) in 2014, morphed into a shared Cheltenham brewery with co-craft conspirators Bad Shepherd a year later, and now, a year after first spotting the space, has become their own Wolf of the Willows brewhouse and taproom.
Husband-and-wife duo Scotty and Renae McKinnon have welcomed the first thirsty drinkers into their brand-spanking space in Mordialloc, with southsiders keen to get on the beers.
“We hope people enjoy the relaxed vibe we’ve created, because let’s face it, we all deserve a beer after the year we’ve all had,” Renae says.
A colourful large-scale mural by local artist Digable Goods adorns the outdoor beer garden with space for 70, while inside, the taproom features 18 rotating taps from which the brewery’s core range is joined by seasonal and limited-release brews.
House made hard seltzer (or boozy fizzy water, which will be seen everywhere this summer) and vertical tastings of Lark Distillery’s annual ‘wolf release’ single malts will also be offered.
Whiskies by the fireplace will be as welcome in the cooler months as a cold can of their Australian Pilsner is in summer.
Food will come from a rotating line up of local food trucks, with VanGo’s Asian fusion keeping snackers sated for now.
“It’s been a long road but we finally got there,” Renae says.
Wolf of the Willows is at 39 De Havilland Rd, Mordialloc, and open Thursdays from 4pm and Fridays through Sundays from noon.
FIRING UP THE GRILL AT TULLA SURF PARK
While wetsuited surfers have been hanging 10 since January at Australia’s first surf park (bar lockdowns), they’ve gone home hungry after waving the waves goodbye.
That’s about to change when the Three Blue Ducks finally get to fire up the grills at their first Melbourne outpost next week.
Chef Mark LaBrooy, who is the Duck dispatched from Sydney down south to bring the group’s acclaimed farm-to-fork fare to URBNSURF in Tullamarine, says he can’t wait to finally bring the project to life.
“The hospitality industry has been hit hard this year, and we just feel really lucky that we’re able to finally launch a partnership that we’ve been excited about for so long. We’re honoured to be working with some incredible people and suppliers on our first Melbourne venue, and we can’t wait to get down there and bring it to life,” he says.
Having recruited a full kitchen team in readiness to open in March, LaBrooy has had to start again from scratch – a task proving tricky as Melbourne’s hospitality industry emerges from lockdown and faces a skills shortage.
The kitchen features a pizza oven, rotisserie and charcoal pit and will serve such dishes as spanner crab scrambled eggs with sriracha for breakfast, BBQ octopus and fish with XO for lunch and a range of pizzas available all day.
LaBrooy says one of his favourite items on the first menu is the Portuguese rotisserie chook – “like an old-school chicken and chips by the pool” – but using top-notch Milawa chicken. Ethically produced beef from innovative on-site processor Provenir comes in both burger and 400g rib eye form.
“I’m stoked to be finally opening. We wonder how our food will be received in Melbourne. You’re pretty savvy with what you want and expect,” LaBrooy says.
Three Blue Ducks at URBNSURF will open on Nov 30 and serve breakfast, lunch and dinner daily.
Bookings now open at threeblueducks.com/melbourne
COUNTRY VICTORIA’S BEST COME TO PLAY
While the details of players’ quarantine and other aspects of this summer’s Australian Open – including when it will be held – are still being nutted out, one of the highlights away from centre court each year is the food offering and 2021 will be no different.
The popular AO Chefs Series is confirmed to return, this time featuring some of Victoria’s best regional chefs who will be coming to town to serve bespoke menus at The Glasshouse.
Running across the two weeks of the Grand Slam, featured chefs include Phil Wood from Pt Leo Estate (named Victoria’s best restaurant in the 2018 delicious.100), Mark Briggs from Sardine Eatery in East Gippsland, Michael Ryan from Provenance in Beechworth, and Jo Barrett, who has recently swapped the Yarra Valley’s Oakridge for the self-sufficient, sustainability project Greenhouse at Fed Square.
Ticketing and other details will be released once the tournament’s date is confirmed.
See ausopen.com
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