Carmel and Matthew Molony, the sibling owners of Bard’s Apothecary, say patrons mention a sense of déjà vu in their hole-in-the-wall bar on Crossley Street in the CBD.

“‘I’ve never been in here before, but it’s so familiar’ – we hear that a lot,” Carmel tells Broadsheet.

It’s because the venue started life as Meyers Place – the first small laneway bar opened when Melbourne’s licensing laws relaxed in the early 1990s.

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This year marks exactly three decades since Six Degrees, then a fledgling company of graduate architects, applied for the first General Licence Class B to construct a new kind of bar in the mostly deserted laneway near the top end of Bourke Street.

The architects were tired of drab pubs and expensive nightclubs and wanted to create a democratic, stylish place to socialise over a reasonably priced drink.

The bar was built on a shoestring budget from recycled materials and found objects – shag pile carpet, timber from the old Melbourne Town Hall stage, train armrests and office cupboard doors. When it opened, there was no signage, no official name and it became an instant hit with creatives and the after-work crowd.

Nothing like Meyers Place existed in Melbourne before, but the fit-out’s pre-aged aesthetic gave it a timeless feel. It sparked a wave of imitators, and helped to establish what we now think of as the “Melbourne-style bar”.

But in 2017, after 23 years, the bar closed after a disagreement between the landlord and Meyers Place owners Drew Pettifer and Heather Larkin.

Pettifer, acutely aware of the bar’s significance to Melbourne’s hospitality and laneway culture, painstakingly transplanted it piece by piece down the road to its present location on Crossley Street.

The transposed Meyers Place closed again in 2021 in a wave of other Covid-related venue closures. That’s when Carmel and Matthew Molony rescued the bar from potential oblivion.

“It would have been a tragedy if the next person who rented this place just pulled it all out, and it could have happened,” Carmel says.

The Molonys have worked in performing arts and events and have a family history running pubs in regional Victoria. When they took over they were passionate about respecting the venue’s heritage (Matthew was Meyers Place regular) but changed its name to usher in a new phase.

“So many people have their own personal history with the space, and everyone’s so happy that we’ve saved the bar. The boys from Six Degrees still come in and they have stories about every inch of this place.”

The venue is a hub for the arts community in the city. The downstairs space is an exposed brick cellar with a 50-person capacity. It hosts regular events, performances and DJs; everything from comedy nights to art exhibitions and monthly meet-ups like Paperback Bookshop’s Salon Series.

The drinks at Bard’s are mostly the same as the pared-back offering at Meyers, although there have been some updates.

Three beer taps offer conversational lagers and ales. The bottle list now includes the non-alc Heaps Normal XPA. Meyers devotees will be relieved that Melbourne Bitter longnecks are still a mainstay.

As before, wines are almost entirely local, and guests downstairs are well catered for with a 200-mililitre “theatre pour”. Victorian sparkling is still on the menu by the glass. Half bottles of champagne are an inspired choice.

The spirits selection has expanded to include local whiskies and gins, and a list of classic cocktails is tight and well-conceived. There’s no space for a kitchen, but you can bring food into the venue.

Melbourne has a long history with struggling to protect important heritage spaces. So, it’s heartening, especially in these complicated times for the hospitality industry, to see a pioneering venue succeed under renewed custodianship.

“We feel like we’re holding on to a little bit of Melbourne history,” says Carmel. “You don’t get much more Melbourne laneway than this bar. The legacy lives on, and we celebrate that.”

Bard’s Apothecary
7/24 Crossley Street, Melbourne
0481 134 686

Hours:
Mon to Thu 5pm–11pm
Fri 5pm–1am
Sat 4pm–1am

@bardsapothecary