Suze, Fitzroy North

Founding chef Ellie Bouhadana may have moved on, yet Hope St Radio’s focaccia remains one of the hottest breads in town (grab the recipe here). But if you’ve been following chef Steve Harry since his last gig, Fitzroy’s Napier Quarter, you know his focaccia with house-made agrodolce belongs in the same conversation. Of course it’s on the menu at Suze, the Hot-Listed wine bar Harry and front-of-house veteran Giulia Giorgetti opened last month.

Like all good wine bars, the moody corner is ripe for a quick drink, a long dinner and everything in between. But this being a round-up of new bars, we’ll focus on the refreshments. Giorgetti’s list is stacked with aperitivo options, including local vermouths, a Davidson’s plum spritz and the Sherry Collins (sherry, lemon juice and sugar). On the wine front she favours lighter varieties from Australia, France and Italy – a tidy match for Harry’s cooking, which borrows liberally from the same places.

Slowpoke, Collingwood

With Runner Up, Marquis of Lorne, Naked in the Sky, The Union Club and The Punters Club already on the scene, this part of town wasn’t exactly crying out for a rooftop bar. But boy have the locals been frothing at the near-360-degree views, smartly attired staff, banging cocktail menu and the left-of-centre music programming. Head up to level four and check it out for yourself.

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Tiny Bar, Brunswick East

When it comes to dissolving the boundary between front and back of house, Tiny Bar may finally have wrested the crown from Public Wine Shop. Chef and co-owner Zac Shearer cooks everything in a galley-style kitchen mere steps from the bar’s three or four tables. The pass – if you could call it that – is a single tall table like you’d find in a public bar. Tiny Bar is consequently intimate in a way that’s rare in Melbourne – even more so given that Shearer’s partner Jamila Fontana is the one passing out the plates. And what’s on them is impressive, thanks to Shearer’s experience in the kitchens of Amphlett House, The Lincoln and French Saloon. One standout is slow-cooked abalone served in its shell, with a sauce of liver, white soy, seaweed and butter. Another is poached apricots with fig-leaf granita, best paired with a bitter amaro to end the night.

Backspace, CBD

When Meyers Place opened at the top end of Bourke Street in 1994, it started a small bar revolution that eventually swept the entire country. Three decades on, the “Paris end” of town still hasn’t had its fill of little places where signage is scant and staff know your name. Backspace is such a place – albeit one with a lot more polish than its predecessors. The bar counter is a stately Tassie oak beauty made by Orio Randi of Arteveneta, whose work can also be found at Embla and Vue de Monde. It’s set off by glossy dark green tiles. Food’s still a work in progress but, in the meantime, the Orion draught is cold and the cocktails are as fun or serious as you like.

Solace, Melbourne

With a 3am license and a thumping Funktion-One sound system, Solace is very much a club – if you want it to be. But with a much more low-key first floor serving minimal-intervention wines from the likes of Minim, Konpira Maru and Ephemera; and tweaked classic cocktails such as a jasmine-infused Martini, Sichuan Spicy Margarita and Pocari Sweat-spiked highball; it’s also very much a bar when you need it to be – albeit one with higher-than-normal standards when it comes to sound design.

Coming soon

Bonus: here are three forthcoming bars to get excited about, from a player with $6 pasta to a cocktail spot from two Everleigh alumni.