Previous SlideNext Slide

Of all the slightly undefinable qualities that make for a wonderful restaurant experience, the one that’s perhaps hardest to muster is a sense of warmth. Right now in chilly Melbourne, I mean that in the literal sense, but more importantly, I mean it figuratively. How do you create that magical feeling when you step through a doorway and become enveloped in the glow of good vibes?

If you wanted to create a case study on this ineffable attribute, Bar Olo in Carlton would be a good place to start. They’ve thought about literal warmth, with a curtain that creates a vestibule to block the frigid breeze from the dining area when you walk through the doorway, but also makes for a dramatic arrival as you swoop back the fabric and enter the glowing room.

It’s a small shopfront space – until recently, it was a modest Lebanese bakery – but that only helps with the sense of joyous intimacy. Caramel wood lines the walls, pretty people pack the room, and two bartenders work in tandem behind the bar, which takes up the back portion of the left side of the room. The place is swimming in good energy.

This isn’t particularly surprising, given the ownership – Bar Olo is the work of Anthony Sculetta. Half a block to the north, his 14-year-old restaurant Scopri also deals in warm energy, although its brand of welcome is a little more old-school, and a little more familiar.

Bar Olo’s features – Italian, wine bar, cocktail bar – all sound familiar to this city and this neighbourhood. Yet there’s nowhere else quite like it, thanks to its combination of personality, energy and quality.

It’s the type of place you’ll come for a drink and wind up staying all night, where the quick banter of the staff and the good work of the bar and kitchen will keep you engaged for hours.

You might stop in for a Barolo Sour ($26), a fantastically simple idea that’s basically a sophisticated Italian version of a frothy pisco sour served over a log of ice in a Collins glass, and be tempted by the antipasto plate ($29), an array of meats and accompaniments that include savoury zeppole. I didn’t know I needed doughnuts with my capicola to fully live life, but now I do.

From there, you’ll think: What harm is a little tramezzino to go with my glass of wine? Bar Olo’s prawn version ($16 for two tramezzini) is the perfect two-bite sandwich, the sweet cold prawn mixed with a mayo-based salsa rosa, and spruiked with fried tropea onions.

At this point, you may have ordered another cocktail from barman Lorenzo Bonifacio, or you’ve become resigned to your delicious fate and entered into a gleeful but serious conversation with Sculetta or one of his staff about the wine list and gone for a bottle. You’ll have ordered the rosy vitello tonnato with fried capers ($26), and started seriously considering which pasta to try.

Weeks after eating it, I’m still daydreaming about a coiled pappardelle ripiene ($26), a version of the wide noodle that’s stuffed, in this case with a silky Jerusalem artichoke filling. It was a special the first time I ate it, but I was thrilled to see it’s since become a menu fixture.

Stuffed pastas are the specialty of head chef Dennis Gullo; there are delicate agnolotti del plin ($27) and a fantastic spoja lorda – a small, square cheese-stuffed pasta – tossed with an umami-rich duck and porcini ragu ($28).

Weeks after eating it, I’m still daydreaming about a coiled pappardelle ripiene.

This menu is short and snack-heavy – it’s not set up to offer a full dinner selection, although it’s certainly possible to make a meal of these dishes. And in some ways, Bar Olo is a victim of its own quality.

I get the sense that Sculetta and staff opened with the intent of being a kind of anteroom for Scopri, a place you might go for a drink before or after dinner up the street, a place that people in the neighbourhood might stop in for a plate of pasta and a glass of wine.

Instead, it’s a massive hit as the main act of many people’s evenings. Getting a seat at the bar is near impossible, and, much like Scopri, you’re unlikely to nab a table unless you’ve booked well in advance.

You’d think this would affect the service, and these folks are certainly getting run off their feet every night. But the tone remains professional and warm (there’s that word again) even as the room becomes a cacophony of customers.

In short, Bar Olo is the perfect bar for this moment in this neighbourhood. No notes.