To say Swanbourne was pumped about the opening of Vinotto would be an understatement. On its first day of trading (in late March), the bar opened at 3pm and promptly hit capacity by 4.15pm. For good measure, there was a line out of the door till 8.30pm. Locals, it would seem, had been stalking Vinotto for some time.
“So many people in the area had been knocking on the door every day being like, ‘when are you opening? When are you opening?’” says Justin Wong, chef at Vinotto.
It’s not hard to understand the locals’ excitement at this one-time-cafe-slash-book-store-slash-bank getting rebooted as a 55-person wine bar. A handsome terrazzo counter sits at the heart of this split-level room; the ground floor features the open kitchen, small tables and wine aplenty (the good stuff lines the shelves, fills fridges and – most importantly – keeps guests’ glasses from drying out). On the mezzanine there’s bench seating and views into the bar’s kitchen garden and courtyard. Vinotto might be less than a week old, but already it feels like it’s been here forever.
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SUBSCRIBE NOWBut perhaps that’s down to the presence of its familiar owners, Laurence Greenfield, Phillip Arnold and Michael Roach of Community Coffee Co. (Arnold and Greenfield, incidentally, also ran the former Swanny Collective, now Upperhand Burgers, next door.)
While Wong (ex-Tiny’s) hasn’t been in the area as long as the owners, his cooking is a key part of the bar’s appeal and features small-plate, wine-bar standards given little tweaks. Flatbreads are baked to order in a compact Ooni pizza oven. The kingfish carpaccio, for instance, includes the surprising deployment of melon balls. His tartare is made with wagyu rump and dressed with a salsa enriched with tallow created by melting down the rump cap. (There’s also the option to add a fried egg rather than the traditional raw quail’s egg.) Impressively, Wong is turning out such sharp dishes in a bijou kitchen that’s roughly the size of an airline toilet.
“It's a tiny kitchen and cooking involves a lot of Tetris-ing, but I've tried to be circumspect about it,” says Wong. “It requires smart menu planning and, at the end of the day, that can only make you a better chef, I think. The irony is that, despite this being the smallest space I've ever worked in, I feel like I've had the most freedom ever in terms of creativity.”
Caitlin Johnston (formerly of The Humble Onion) is in charge of the drinks and is drawing extensively from European drinks culture, whether it’s a plush Greek xinomavro from the country’s far north, or a local homage to French, Spanish and Italian wine styles. Sherries and vermouths will also be part of the Vinotto playbook, as is a considered edit of non-alcoholic options including new local non-alc beer, Lightning Minds.
“If there’s a driver on a table and everyone else is having that second glass, they shouldn’t have to drink a lemon, lime [and] bitters after a really beautiful glass of wine,” says Johnson. “They should be moving to a quality thing. It's important to keep that focus across the board.”
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