Rockpool Dining Group will raise the curtain on R Bar at Crown Towers Melbourne on July 26. Inspired by the Golden Age of cocktails, its drinks focus is on barrel-aged cocktails, martini service, a rotating line-up of hotel bar classics, and contemporary creations featuring Australian spirits and native ingredients and garnishes.
The design palette is a plush ensemble of dark timber, bronze mirror panelling, sweeping velvet curtains and curved banquette seating, with a wall of barrels aging spirits and pre-batched cocktails.
Rockpool Dining Group Culinary Director Neil Perry said: “R Bar is an ode to the cocktail of the Great Gatsby era.
“We’ve taken our inspiration from some of the world’s best hotel lobby bars and put our Rockpool spin on it, which means working with boutique, Australian producers and distillers and adding our signature razzle dazzle to the drinks list and fabulous food offerings.”
“I’d go as far as to say that the barrel aging that we’re doing on site is on the largest scale in the country, with amazing cocktails aging gracefully in 30, 20-litre barrels that we’ve turned into a dramatic feature wall.”
Barrel-aged cocktails, including Negroni, Manhattan, Old Fashioned, Boulevardier, Sazerac and Vieux Carre, are aged for a minimum of 30 days in a combination of port, sherry and bourbon, 20-litre barrels that have been broken down and repurposed for R Bar by Tasmanian Cask Co. Barrels from iconic Australian wineries, such as Seppeltsfield, and American whiskey heavyweight Woodfood have also been repurposed into custom-made casks for R Bar.
A martini service features all-Australian produce and spirits and delivers two wet, two mid and two dry vodka and gin martinis that are poured and garnished table-side.
With a nod to some of the world’s most iconic cocktails first created in a hotel bar, a rotating showcase will kick-off with the legendary Singapore Sling served at Raffles Hotel in Singapore, the Bellini from Harry’s Bar, and the incredible Manhattan Sour from Manhattan’s Bar. R Bar’s own creations span sours, spritzes and fizzes.
Spirits from a rotating cast of Australian distillers will be given a cocktail finish, while others will see their raw spirits barrel-finished on site, including rye from Tasmanian distillery Belgrove.
R Bar said a partnership with Victoria’s Starward Distillery will follow.
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