First Look: Bar Bellamy’s Casual Counterpart, Melitta Next Door, Has $14 Cocktails

When Hot-Listed Bar Bellamy opened on Rathdowne Street in 2023, owners Danielle and Oska Whitehart planned for it to be a relaxed cocktail bar. They pictured the kind of place Carlton locals could hang out multiple times a week. It’s been bustling ever since, but they noticed the cost-of-living crisis was affecting who could enjoy the bar. “We found some younger neighbours around here are finding it a bit difficult to interact with,” says Danielle.

On Friday August 29, the couple will open Melitta Next Door, which Danielle describes as a “more accessible” Mediterranean bar and restaurant, right beside the Whiteheartses’ original venue.

The couple’s focus on high-quality drinks and neighbourhood vibes carries over to this new venue, but they’re keen to note the two bars are distinct. This “isn’t Bar Bellamy 2.0,” Oska says. “We didn’t want to create another cocktail bar and for people to think it’s going to be the same.”

To keep costs manageable, the team has opted for a drinks menu featuring pre-batched cocktails – all made by Lachy Boyle, who worked at the Black Pearl for over four years. The menu is divided into three sections: tap, esky and freezer.

“It took a lot of different techniques to be able to get those cocktails tasting the way we wanted. But we’re really focusing on speed and efficiency, so people can get a drink in hand fast,” says Oska.

The freezer section is home to three Martinis: a Direct Martini , a Dirty one and a riff on an Espresso Martini. The esky section includes longnecks and other drinks, such as Boyle’s tequila-based Ranch Water cocktail and Passioncello Spritz (vodka, passionfruit and preserved lemon). And everything from the tap is $14. Options include Fin Wines from the Yarra Valley, a Cynar Spritz and the Meli-To, the bar’s take on a Milano Torino. The Campari and sweet vermouth combo is the base for many cocktails, and can be easily upgraded to an Americano, Perfect Americano, Negroni or Negroni Sbagliato.

The drinks are matched with a Mediterranean barbecue menu from Lorena Corso. The former Napier Quarter and Estelle chef leans into her Sicilian heritage and experience in restaurants in the UK and Australia. “I don’t call [the food] strictly Sicilian. It’s anything from Spain all the way to Turkey and North African food as well.”

Expect a tapas-inspired affair with lots of skewers, stuffed squid and panelle (Sicilian chickpea fritters).

The building carries fond memories for Danielle and Oska, whose friend lived in the apartment upstairs and would host house parties. “The next morning, we’d pull a mattress onto the roof and debrief,” says Danielle. The duo channelled some of that energy into the fit-out back on the ground floor, where the walls are covered in small, square tiles hand-painted by Joanna Hu, the James Beard award-winning co-author of Chinese-ish alongside Rosheen Kaul.

The tiles are cosy and charming, with images of flowers, dinosaurs, picnic baskets and more. Some were even created especially for the staff, such as a tile with a nonna illustration for Russo, whose grandmother passed away during the build.

Anchoring the room is a curved bar by local designer Berryn Russo. It’s made from yellow and white recycled plastic, with built-in eskies to use as ice wells. A huge rangehood left by the former cafe tenant has been converted into a lightbox that hangs over the bar. And colour-changing LEDs wash the whole room in light, creating the same playful vibe of those well-remembered house parties.

Melitta Next Door
160 Rathdowne Street, Carlton
(03) 9969 7641

Hours:
Tue to Thu 4pm–10pm
Fri & Sat 4pm–11pm
@melitta.nextdoor