A little more than a stone’s throw from Neighbourhood Wine, OPL plays a similar relaxed tune to its sibling, but with a coal fire the core of the kitchen and the menu leaning into some South African influence.
It’s hard not to compare Old Palm Liquor with NW. And there are some unavoidable parallels, but it’s no facsimile of the tried and true. A serious collection of vinyl and well-used turntables are present in both (no endlessly cycling Spotify playlists), and bottles lay on timber shelves behind sliding glass doors, which is a bit of a signature. Though in OPL, the collection forms an imposing wall behind the bar, while at NW the cellar is scattered through the warren of rooms in the former Carlton Crew gambling den.
The open kitchen, warm tones, and general sense of comfort and ease are also shared traits, but the proliferation of potted plants and whirring ceiling fans give OPL a colonial edge (an echo of Jordaan’s South African upbringing) with a 70s accent, in contrast to the 80s Victoriana of the older sibling.
For the menu, Jordaan draws on her heritage growing up on the Western Cape, a couple of hours out of Cape Town, where braai (coal-fired barbecuing) was a staple. The centrepiece of the kitchen is a wood-burning grill, both open and flat, with vegetables, meat, poultry, seafood, vegetables and the signature charred flatbreads – served with garlicky labne – feeling the heat. And while you’ll see a little more goat on the menu here than may be typical, with biltong popping up, too, this is no South African restaurant, with Jordaan’s creative impulses given free rein.
Long-time manager of Neighbourhood Wine Marc Banytis has hopped onboard as an owner at OPL alongside Denman and Jordaan. Banytis has done some serious hours at NW, and, in a former life, was the opening manager at Sydney’s ground-breaking The Wine Library a decade ago (back when Sydneysiders almost had to fly to Melbourne to get a glass of wine without a meal).
For those familiar with NW, it’s no surprise the wine list at OPL is very much in the minimal-intervention camp, with many of the classic ‘natural’ makers from around the world represented across a vast 500-strong collection. There are 20 or so wines available by the glass, with the measure kept to a clearly declared 120ml, rather than the common 150ml, making sampling across the list a somewhat less imposing proposition. And if the whole lot’s looking a bit bafflingly unfamiliar, Banytis and crew are never far away to offer friendly translations.
Words like ‘institution’ and ‘iconic’ get tossed around a lot, and not always with deep justification. But France-Soir, near the top of the Toorak Road hill in Melbourne’s South Yarra, has earned both of those monikers, and some time ago. It is indeed an iconic institution, and an establishment with a loyal following that few…
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