First Look: Sherry Reigns at Three Horses, the New Bar From Caretaker’s Cottage

Caretaker’s Cottage has earnt a spot on the World’s 50 Best Bars list the last three years running. Now, the team behind it – Matthew Stirling, Ryan Noreiks and Rob Libecans – has quietly opened a second bar just up the street. It’s called Three Horses, and while it shares DNA with the Cottage, this is no sequel. It’s bigger, brighter and (even) happier to lean into chaos.

The inspiration goes back to Madrid. Last year the trio visited La Venencia, a century-old sherry bodega that’s all dust, wood and 50 shades of brown. “It just felt really cool,” Libecans tells Broadsheet. “We thought, why not do our own version for Melbourne?”

It’s come to life not 100 metres from the Cottage, in the former Troika Bar, which closed earlier this year. Fittingly, a troika is three people working together. Or, in the original sense, a carriage drawn by three horses – hence the bar’s name. “You don’t change the name of a pub or a boat,” Libecans says.

Sherry, a fortified wine, has long been a quiet backbone of the Cottage’s cocktail program. Here it’s the main thread, with a rotating cast of four sherries available by the glass or bottle on a given day (“enough to keep it exciting”). Sherries from Beechworth winery Pennyweight get starring roles alongside essential Spanish examples.

“We’ve always swum in our own lane,” Libecans says. “The worst thing we could do is follow trends. This place lets us push ourselves further.”

Still, Three Horses is first and foremost a cocktail bar – albeit one that relies on minimal components. The Jabberwock, essentially a Martini seasoned with dry sherry, is poured tableside with a gold horse swizzle stick. A mango G&T comes with house-made sorbet, whipped to order and served in a stainless steel coupe. “The least interesting thing about those drinks is the alcohol,” Libecans says. “It’s about getting the best produce and making it sing.”

The fit-out was handled by Stirling’s architect sister, Thandi Stirling. There’s custom joinery; a three-metre technicolour painting of wild horses by Stirling’s aunt, artist Liz Stirling; and one-of-a-kind Pitt & Giblin speakers from Hobart that the team have jauntily nicknamed the Ponies and the Dingoes.

Music is on vinyl, just like at the Cottage, but here the team only plans to play whole albums. The coasters – 16 different tessellated designs – are as much a conversation starter as a place to rest a drink. “Caretaker’s is comfort,” Libecans says. “Three Horses is energy.”

Three Horses
106 Little Lonsdale Street, Melbourne
No phone

Hours
Wed to Sat 4pm–1am

instagram.com/threehorsesbar