Stokehouse’s Pontoon Has Closed, but Something New Is Coming

Pontoon – the breezy, sand-level bar and eatery that occupies the ground floor of St Kilda’s seaside fine diner Stokehouse – has closed. But a rebirth is only weeks away.

Just in time for summer, the casual beach club will reopen with a new name, look, and food and booze offering inspired by Europe but with an undeniably Australian style.

The downstairs venue along the boardwalk has lived many lives since Stokehouse first opened in 1990, including as Pontoon and Stokehouse Cafe, before a fire destroyed it in 2014, leading to a rebuild of the entire precinct.

While the team remains tight-lipped on details of Pontoon’s new era, the driving forces behind it are owner Frank van Haandel’s sons Hugh and Pete, who will “return it to its roots”, paying homage to the iconic location’s previous iterations.

Watch this space.

The yet-to-be-renamed Pontoon will reopen in late October or early November.

stokehouse.com.au/melbourne