Boris Portnoy’s All Are Welcome bakery has become a Northcote institution over its relatively short life, now he’s teamed up with winemaker Mitch Sokolin to deliver smart but simple dining with a killer collection of cutting-edge wines.
Opened 2021
What happens is that the baker, Boris Portnoy, and winemaker, Mitch Sokolin, open the doors on Gray & Gray, the former solicitor’s office of the same name that sat on High Street for 90 years.
The non-descript facade belies the comfortable interior, and the name gives no indication of the eastern European-inspired menu that celebrates Portnoy’s and Sokolin’s shared Russian heritage, and Georgia, where they made wine together.
This approach is quite simply a revelation of food and wine to their many customers.
“There was nowhere to go in Northcote; we had to do it,” they say and while they share their love and knowledge of wines from Eastern Europe, there are no steadfast rules or regional loyalty with the wines they choose.
Their focus lies upon the belief that, “A wine should be made with intention, well executed and be a good ambassador for itself, and its origins. We seem to pull away from established regions and toward areas and producers that respond well to a changing climate.”
The wines are listed on a chalkboard which is updated “on the fly,” while most wines can be made available by the glass, and current glass offerings are denoted with a star on the board.
There are no printed lists, the boys consider them to feel too permanent. All they ask is that you point at the chalkboard or a bottle in the deli fridge and they will, “open it, you drink it.”
Reopening plans include an à-la-carte format in November and there’ll always be a good portion of the bar for walk-in patrons, if restrictions permit.
Old Palm Liquor is the younger Lygon Street sibling of the already iconic Neighbourhood Wine. Opening in 2013, and expressly reflecting it’s anchoring in the local area, Simon Denman and Almay Jordaan’s Neighbourhood Wine has also become a destination for those further afield, drawn by Jordaan’s Euro-leaning menu and the vast collection of minimal-intervention wine…
Hannah Green’s Etta has firmly established itself as the vibrantly busy neighbourhood restaurant that she set out to create back in 2017. That feel of a local place, a bistro and wine bar, a community favourite is strong in Etta’s DNA, but so too are the crisp skills and wine expertise that Green forged working…
From a single site adjacent to the Princes Theatre, business partners Con Christopoulos and Josh Brisbane have – over the course of a decade or two – acquired the entire Spring Street frontage up to the lane that borders the Imperial Hotel. Starting with the European and Melbourne Supper Club – which saved a whole…
Please sign in or create account as candidate to bookmark this job
Please sign in or create account to save this search
Please sign in or create account as candidate to create a resume
