Teresa Cocktail Bar

Sarah Mitchell and Andrea Marseglia are award-winning bartenders who met while working at Melbourne’s Boilermaker House in 2016, and co-founded Napier speakeasy Teresa Cocktail Bar in late 2021. The Kiwi-Italian couple named it after Marseglia’s late nonna, who first inspired Marseglia’s love of foraging.

When they opened their bar, the couple’s first step was to convert an empty clothing shop into an Italian deli (which sells sandwiches by day). Head through the deli to a secret door that opens to a low-lit cocktail bar just big enough for 25 people.

The dark space feels a little otherworldly. Designed by Mitchell, the room is narrow and flanked by a sleek onyx marble bar on one side, with black walls hung with inky-hued, octagonal paintings on the other.

Ask for a classic gin and tonic and the team will happily make you one. But ultimately, they want to challenge people’s ideas of what a cocktail and cocktail bar should be. For example, the signature Teresa Negroni is made with fennel pollen gin, propolis vermouth, Rinomato and Bruto Americano (the latter two are both bitter botanical aperitifs). It’s garnished with a cube of truffle hokey pokey.

Keep an eye out for collaborations and events with like-minded people and businesses – those who gel with the couple’s commitment to using local, organic produce and adhering to zero-waste practices.