The loss of Bar Neapoli was a blow to the CBD’s bar scene during the pandemic, but it’s hard to find a better silver lining than a new venue from the Gin Palace crew, serving food until late and offering a wider range of spirits beyond gin.

Black Kite Commune, which opened in early May, is styled on Melbourne’s supper clubs of old, says co-owner Ben Luzz. He was especially enamoured with an early 20th-century spot he discovered called Nighthawks.

“[They offered] delicious wine, edgy cocktails but also food throughout the whole night,” he says.

Wild boar croquettes, gnocco fritti with duck prosciutto, macadamia-crumbed barramundi and crocodile fried with saltbush are among the Australiana flourishes on the menu, which highlights local and native ingredients. Rabbit ragu comes snack-sized, served on fried polenta, or there’s a venison and beef burger on a potato roll for bigger appetites.

Venue manager Jess Clayfield (previously at Gin Palace) wrote the cocktail list after a night watching the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra perform. Of the eight drinks, it’s the raspberry-free Raspberry that is getting ordered most. Cranberry, gooseberries, Three Foxes aperitif and lime create the illusion, boosted by pisco.

Three hundred or so Australian-leaning spirits and 10 wines by the glass are also available.

Neapoli was opened by Con Christopoulos (Siglo, The European, Kafeneion) in 2012 but never reopened after 2020’s first lockdowns.

The venue’s floor-to-ceiling factory-style windows and mezzanine remain, but bright finishes have been switched out for dark blues, coppers and other muted colours that suit the late-night crowd Luzz is appealing to. A new oak bar-top has embedded drip trays so bartenders can mix a drink in front of you, while the booths upstairs have buzzers for service.

A lightbox installation on the ceiling is now covered with photographs of the forest along Victoria’s Black Spur drive, captured at night. Michael Delaney (Natural History Bar & Grill) created the new look.

Open 4pm-1am daily

30 Russell Place, Melbourne, blackkitecommune.com