Construction began on the Dyason & Co Cordial Factory on Oxford Street, Collingwood, in 1888 during the height of Australia’s temperance movement. Fast forward 136 years to today, and the site is home to restaurant Orlo and downstairs cocktail bar Cordial Club, both opening to the public on Friday June 28.

The two venues are led by owner-operator James Klapanis (St Cloud Eating House, Young’s Wine Rooms) with Carlo Grossi (Alta Trattoria, Grossi Florentino) on board as a consultant.

An architect himself – though not the one behind this development – Klapanis worked with Collingwood’s McCluskey Studio to maintain the building’s original structure while adding necessary amenities – namely a custom kitchen built around a Josper grill and a firepit.

We think you might like Access. For $12 a month, join our membership program to stay in the know.

SIGN UP

“What I love doing is getting great buildings and keeping the old bones as much as I can,” he tells Broadsheet.

Orlo’s executive chef and creative director Matteo Tine, who previously worked for Klapanis at Young’s Wine Room and Grossi at Grossi Florentino, has developed a menu largely inspired by his Sicilian heritage. But he doesn’t limit himself to ingredients and flavours from the region.

“It’s Mediterranean food and it’s gonna feel Mediterranean, but I might use kombu or a bit of miso,” Tine says. “What makes Italian and European cooking so great is that they use what’s available to them.”

He says his menu will be a seasonally driven “revolving door”, though flame-licked proteins will be a constant. They may include chargrilled lamb ribs with fermented honey toum or char siu-style chicken with pickled cime di rapa, fermented pumpkin and fermented chilli.

There’s the plant-based house-cured celeriac “pastrami” with sugarloaf pickle and rye, melanzane parmigiana passed down from Tine’s nonna, and Tine’s version of mac and cheese: conchiglione (large pasta shells) with cacio e pepe sauce that’s baked in the Josper until bubbly and crisp on top.

His menu at Cordial Club reflects what’s found upstairs, but will have a greater focus on snacks. He’s reimagined sfinci, an Italian doughnut his nonna would make him as a kid, and serves them with fontina cheese fondue and white anchovies. Scotch eggs are also revamped, made here with lobster and the option to add caviar on top.

Cocktails are the work of Joe Jones (Purple Pit). He’s created a range of six custom cordials that will be spun into cocktails or mixed into a sour beer created for the venue. Champagne cordial is used in the Gin Apple Gimlet and saffron cordial is mixed with sparkling wine for the Little Star.

Back upstairs, the beverage program mostly centres around wine with some sake. Just beside the bar, there’s a spiral staircase that leads to a mezzanine-level private dining room. At the back of the venue, there’s a courtyard with wrought iron doors at the front, vintage Turkish doors at the back and a roof that can be opened on warm sunny days.

Orlo and the Cordial Club
44 Oxford Street, Collingwood
8383 1024

Hours:
Daily midday–late

orlo.com.au