In March, the newly opened Brunswick Street bar Bonny gave the public a quick teaser – then made an even hastier retreat. After lockdown 2.0, it’s now reopened for table service, with a new chef in its pocket-sized kitchen.

Bonny is a collaboration between Shayne Dixon, co-owner of Smith Street bottle shop Beermash, and Edge Brewing Project’s Adam Betts. There are 27 taps but only 12 of them pour beer – the rest are for beer-infused cocktails, natural wine and cold-brew coffee.

The space was formerly home to ramen joint Shibui Bar, but Betts and Dixon reworked it to focus on drinks. The original plan was to have guest chefs in the kitchen for three-month rotations, serving small plates of beer-friendly food. Mike Baker (co-owner and chef of Carlton’s Henry Sugar) kicked things off, and Ides chef Peter Gunn (formerly sous chef at Attica) is overseeing the reopening.

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At Ides, Gunn serves degustations, but here he’s created a short set menu (priced at $35), plus a couple of extras. Two courses (with optional matched beer and wine) are geared to fortify against Betts and Dixon’s impressive drinks list.

To start, there’s a thick, shareable slab of rosemary focaccia, cashew nuts and pickles (well complemented by a crisp Edge Brewing yuzu lager). For mains, there’s a choice of braised Wagyu beef cheek or roasted eggplant curry served with boiled potatoes and pearl-couscous salad.

Beyond the set menu, snacks include oysters with salami vinaigrette, fried chicken wings and hot chips.

Dixon and Betts designed the fit-out themselves. The result is a modern, moody atmosphere, focused on the dark, reclaimed-timber bar, which is matched by long wooden tables and exposed ceiling rafters.

“We literally gutted the whole thing and started from scratch,” says Betts. “I taught myself how to do 3D modelling.”

Beer isn’t the sole drink focus here, but the owner’s industry experience is clear in the varied selection. There are IPAs from the US, bold pastry stouts (sweeter than your usual dark ale) from Scandinavia, and plenty of local labels, too.

“I’m personally into heavily fruited sours, and light-bitterness, cloudy, juicy New England IPAs. Stuff that’s really easy to drink and doesn’t really taste like beer,” Dixon says.

Behind the bar, Josh Crawford uses low-waste techniques to repurpose tap beer run-off that would otherwise end up in the sink.

“There are three bowls under the taps,” Crawford says. “Instead of letting the beer run down the drain and waste it, at the end of the week I’ll make it into a flavoured reduction and it goes into each of the cocktails.”

There’s the Francis, a tropical Gin Sour, and the Harper, a Sour Martini made with a sour-beer reduction, vodka, sake and pistachio oil. The Charlie is a Negroni made with Japanese sencha green tea and infused with hops.

There are kegged wines on tap from Melbourne wineries such as Noisy Ritual and Jamsheed. Proud Mary cold brews are on rotation, but Betts and Dixon plan to eventually brew the coffee in-house with beans from local roasters.

Bonny
177 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy
0423 337 101

Hours:
Bottle shop
Wed to Sun 5pm–10pm

Restaurant
Wed to Sun 6.15pm–9.30pm

This article first appeared on Broadsheet on June 12, 2020. Menu items may have changed since publication.