NewsBite

Advertisement

Cult Sydney bar and bottle shop, Odd Culture, brings its wild drinks and parfait and chips to Fitzroy

Take away or drink in at this bar-bottle shop hybrid, a home for wild ales, biodynamic wines and cocktails that hero ferments of all kinds.

Emma Breheny
Emma Breheny

Brunswick Street’s bar scene gets a jolt this week with the opening of Odd Culture, a combined bar and bottle shop focused on wild drinks that occupies a busy Fitzroy corner site.

The 200-square-metre space is set to become a destination for craft beer nerds, Australian spirit fans, and wine enthusiasts whether casual or connoisseur, thanks to its hand-picked range that covers all those bases with equal care.

Snacks include the signature chicken liver parfait doused in fish sauce caramel and topped with potato chips (centre).
Snacks include the signature chicken liver parfait doused in fish sauce caramel and topped with potato chips (centre).Simon Schluter

Odd Culture is the brainchild of James Thorpe, who opened a bar in Sydney’s Newtown in 2021 to explore fermented drinks of all kinds, especially beers made with wild yeasts and wines that skew natural, organic or biodynamic. The nearby bottleshop sells those hard-to-find drinks for takeaway. In Fitzroy, however, both are under one roof.

Visitors will see people perched on stools drinking in the window before confronting a well-stocked bank of shelves and fridges. The team have brought down 44 kegs of wild ales they’ve been collecting for their Melbourne debut, as well as rare wines, some decades old.

Advertisement

Staff members, including sommeliers, will be floating around to offer suggestions or guide you towards a table to enjoy a bottle off the shelf. There’s no wine list – what you see for sale is what’s on offer.

The Melbourne Bitter mural at Odd Culture in Fitzroy.
The Melbourne Bitter mural at Odd Culture in Fitzroy.Simon Schluter

At the rear, a Melbourne Bitter mural above a corner-hugging banquette adds a splash of local colour. It was painted by Bodie Jarman, the same artist who adorned the Newtown bar with a Reschs equivalent.

Twelve beer taps behind a green-tiled bar dispense sours, pale ales, imperial stout and the unofficial official beer, Melbourne Bitter, with at least half the taps rotating frequently. Opening choices include a collaboration between Wildflower (NSW) and France’s Brasserie Au Baron.

Cocktails are a mix of signature Newtown cocktails and Victorian-led drinks, such as The Gospel’s rye stirred with Saison vermouth and an artichoke amaro. Fermented elements headline all of them, meaning some cocktails take a week or two to prepare.

Advertisement
Odd Culture Bar and Bottleshop in Fitzroy.
Odd Culture Bar and Bottleshop in Fitzroy.Simon Schluter

While Newtown has the space for a full kitchen, here the food is geared to drink-friendly ballast.

“It’s a beverage-driven business but if the demand for food is greater, we’ll increase the food,” says general manager Gerry Nass (ex Robbie Burns).

Buffalo mozzarella with mandarin and bottarga, Meatsmith charcuterie and pickles join the signature dish: chicken liver parfait doused in fish sauce caramel and studded with Chappy’s potato chips.

Open Sun-Thu noon-11pm, Fri-Sat noon-1am.

Advertisement

Continue this series

Melbourne hit list August 2023: Hot, new and just-reviewed places to check out, right now
Up next
Composite image of comedy trio Sooshi Mango and the interior of their Carlton restaurant Johnny Vince & Sam’s.

We join the queue for Sooshi Mango’s ‘baffling’ Italian restaurant, Johnny, Vince & Sam’s

The comedy group’s nostalgic restaurant conjures the immigrant Italian/Greek suburban home with affectionate accuracy.

Morris House and its light, bright facade.

Morris House is Melbourne CBD’s new four-storey mega-venue with a rooftop bar, live comedy nights and more

Bounce from dinner downstairs to cocktails on the European-styled rooftop and back down to the basement for comedy at this big city venue for big nights.

Previous
Ima owners Ako Miura and James Spinks are thrilled to be in a bigger venue.

Brunswick’s Ima Asa Yoru is the new grown-up version of one of Melbourne’s most popular cafes

Moving to bigger digs in Brunswick has opened a world of delicious possibilities for one of Melbourne’s best-loved Japanese venues - and there’s more to come.

See all stories

Restaurant reviews, news and the hottest openings served to your inbox.

Sign up
Emma BrehenyEmma BrehenyEmma is Good Food's Melbourne-based reporter and co-editor of The Age Good Food Guide 2024.

From our partners

Advertisement
Advertisement

Original URL: https://www.smh.com.au/goodfood/melbourne-eating-out/cult-sydney-bar-and-bottle-shop-odd-culture-brings-its-wild-drinks-and-parfait-and-chips-to-fitzroy-20230630-p5dkqq.html