A new week, a hot new bar: Melbourne.
Some cities put their drinking holes on bold display, all glass frontage and brazen invitation. Some don't. Melbourne is certainly in the latter camp, and, not surprisingly, its latest bar offering, New Gold Mountain, is a hole-in-the-wall affair found down a cobble-stoned lane way and somewhat reminiscent of a womb. Or the inside of 'I Dream of Jeannie's bottle.
New Gold Mountain, is brought to us by a team of four locals who've worked in leading bars in Melbourne and London. They've teamed with young Australian architect Cassandra Fahey, who (for those who follow such things) designed the controversial house for Australian football sensationalist Sam Newman back in 2000 (the one with the two story glass frontage embedded with Pamela Anderson's face). For this project, Fahey took the old tailor's studio on the outskirts of the city's Chinatown district and created a space that works to a distinct opium-den theme. Downstairs speaks of colonial-era Shanghai, with two fireplaces decorated with the Chinese zodiac. Upstairs is the Poppy Room featuring plush pink fabrics suspended from the ceiling. And nana-esque furniture. Pretty and comforting. Just as Jeannie would like it.
And the drinks? They specialize in sours. The music? Something described as "nouvelle-vague Joy Division revisions". Which certainly pegs the clientèle into a certain age bracket. A space you might have to track down yourself, but will certainly envelop you once you're in
Some cities put their drinking holes on bold display, all glass frontage and brazen invitation. Some don't. Melbourne is certainly in the latter camp, and, not surprisingly, its latest bar offering, New Gold Mountain, is a hole-in-the-wall affair found down a cobble-stoned lane way and somewhat reminiscent of a womb. Or the inside of 'I Dream of Jeannie's bottle.
New Gold Mountain, is brought to us by a team of four locals who've worked in leading bars in Melbourne and London. They've teamed with young Australian architect Cassandra Fahey, who (for those who follow such things) designed the controversial house for Australian football sensationalist Sam Newman back in 2000 (the one with the two story glass frontage embedded with Pamela Anderson's face). For this project, Fahey took the old tailor's studio on the outskirts of the city's Chinatown district and created a space that works to a distinct opium-den theme. Downstairs speaks of colonial-era Shanghai, with two fireplaces decorated with the Chinese zodiac. Upstairs is the Poppy Room featuring plush pink fabrics suspended from the ceiling. And nana-esque furniture. Pretty and comforting. Just as Jeannie would like it.
And the drinks? They specialize in sours. The music? Something described as "nouvelle-vague Joy Division revisions". Which certainly pegs the clientèle into a certain age bracket. A space you might have to track down yourself, but will certainly envelop you once you're in
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