M
elbourne’s bar culture
had its Big Bang
moment 23 years
ago in a CBD laneway
site renovated by then-fledgling
architecture group Six Degrees.
That game-changing bar, Meyers
Place, closed recently and to prove,
perhaps, that nature abhors a
vacuum, a new bar designed by
Six Degrees has just opened in a
nearby laneway. And, yes, it’s also
something of a game-changer.
Arlechin shows how far
Melbourne’s laneway bars have
evolved in two decades. For starters,
it’s an irony-free zone. A 40-seater
with herringbone parquet timber
floors, barrel-vaulted cork ceiling,
backlit wine cellar, marble-topped
bar, fully equipped kitchen and a
young, well-credentialled team, it’s
as far as you can get from the punk
DIY aesthetic of the early scene.
Second, Arlechin comes from
the Grossi family, owners of
Grossi Florentino, the landmark
restaurant that backs onto the
same laneway. The bloodline
makes the reasoning behind the
location (and the money available
for the gorgeous fit-out) easier to
trace, and it also guarantees that
the food is as important here as the
booze. The dishes on Arlechin’s
menu could still be categorised aswhen you know the bar is open
until three in the morning. True
to its name, the dish’s siren song
in the small hours is irresistible.
The singing doesn’t stop there.
There’s risoni, cooked risotto-
fashion, perfumed with saffron,
studded with bone marrow and
finished with pangrattato. Or
an Italian take on the Sloppy Joe,
the buttermilk bun stuffed with
baccalà mantecato and buttered
leeks. Or cos, quickly grilled and
served with smoky whipped ricotta
and topped with bottarga and
a crumbed and fried egg yolk
waiting to be stabbed. Or surf
clams, classic in wine, garlic and ➤Clockwise from
top: Midnight
Spaghetti;
Arlechin; (from
left) chef Fabrizio
Amenta, Guy
Grossi and
manager Adam
Roderick.Laneway resident Arlechin heralds a new
era of sophistication in late-night bar
culture, writes MICHAEL HARDEN.
Call to
the bar
bar snacks (they’re priced that way)
but describing a dish like Midnight
Spaghetti as a mere snack verges on
criminal understatement.
Midnight Spaghetti exemplifies
Italian food at its best: maximum
flavour with minimal ingredients.
It’s a snack-sized serve, sure, but
the tight tangle of bang-on al dente
spaghetti delivers a fat whack of
flavour. It’s tossed with a made-to-
order sauce of chopped canned
tomatoes, chilli, oregano, plump
and assertive capers, and a sublime
generous dash of colatura di alici,
the fish sauce from the Amalfi
Coast. That dish alone will get you
back through the door, especiallyGOURMET TRAVELLER 57PHOTOGRAPHY SARAH ANDERSON
Melbourne review