Bar Evelyn

Chef Nick Stanton and mate Mark Catsburg met in Melbourne and went on to open moody fine diner Ramblr and party joints Leonard’s House of Love and Leonardo’s Pizza Palace with two other business partners.

After Covid shut Melbourne down, they escaped to Stanton’s hometown and opened Bar Evelyn. The pizza, pasta and antipasto bar builds on the retro, faintly Italian-American theme that made Leonardo’s such a hit. The dim, diner-like interior has a ’70s vibe, with cosy booths, bolted-down bar stools, a cork floor, laminated benches and wood veneer panelling. It’s a low-key neighbourhood spot where people can wander in off the beach and grab a drink, snack or dinner.

The woodfired pizzas are topped with inventive yet crowd-pleasing combinations such as bolognaise, bechamel and spring onion; venison chorizo, fior di latte, poblano peppers, lardo (a type of salumi) and gremolata (a parsley-based sauce) and lion’s mane mushrooms, salsa verde, onion, fior di latte, parmesan and vino cotto.

Stanton changes about 20 per cent of the menu regularly. Some early hits include duck-egg tagliatelle, blue pilchard bruschetta and the cheekily named “Tweed taco” (crumbed fish, “servo” bread, bottarga mayo, chilli, pickles, chives), inspired by a fisherman Stanton gets seafood from.

Catsburg – in his signature cowboy hat – can usually be found serving tables or behind the bar. Beers come from local breweries including Earth Beer Company in Cudgen, and there are fun cocktails such as a signature limoncello Margarita, a Martini made with Winding Road Distillery Citrus and Sea gin and a daiquiri that uses Cabarita Spirits’ Soltera rum.