Drinking Melbourne is the weekly newsletter from drinks writer Fred Siggins, unpacking what’s happening in Melbourne’s bars (and what you can learn from them), sent every Tuesday to your inbox. Get on the list here.
It’s been a massive year for the Melbourne bar and cocktail scene, both with lynchpin venues closing and a crazy number of new openings. I was asked a few months back by Good Food to write an article trying to unpack the status of the Melbourne bar industry after the closing of The Everleigh. Was it the death knell for one of the world’s most respected cocktail cities? After the last year of covering the drinks scene in this amazing town, all I can say is that I think things are more exciting, more dynamic and more energised here than I’ve seen in years, and I feel incredibly privileged to be able to write about it.
So with that in mind, I want to end the year by saying thank you. Thank you to all the bartenders who have served me incredible drinks over the last year, made me feel welcome and listened to me prattle on about the philosophy of cocktails and hospitality. Thank you to the operators taking a punt on doing something new, the DJs making music great again in Melbourne, the chefs and cooks cranking out incredible bar snacks, and the dishies, cleaners, delivery drivers, seccies, and everyone else that helps our bars stay open and safe.
On the note of safety, I also want to say thank you to everyone who has stood up this year and done the incredibly hard emotional work of speaking out about the injustices and abuse that are still unfortunately rife in hospo. I see you and I appreciate you. For everyone else, ask yourself — what am I doing to make the industry a better and safer place for everyone? If you don’t have a quick answer, you may well be part of the problem.
With some seriously dark stuff happening in the world this year, I also want to extend a special thanks to the immigrant communities of Melbourne who make our hospitality scene so much richer, and in fact pretty much built the thing. In particular, thanks to our Jewish community, who have been instrumental in the development of our cafe culture, our bohemian approach to art and life, much of the incredible French cuisine here, and provide us the best damn kugelhopf in the world. For a fascinating window into a Jewish couple who were hugely influential in Melbourne hospitality and art, and how they fought fascism with sandwiches, check out the wonderful documentary Monsieur Mayonnaise.
Melbourne’s Muslim communities, too, be they Arab, Persian, African, South Asian or Indonesian, bring with them incredibly rich culinary traditions which make our lives more delicious every day, and are also helping to shape the development of some pretty amazing non-alcoholic cocktails these days, as mentioned in my article about the intersection of coffee and cocktail culture in the current print edition of Boothby. It’s hard to express how grateful I am to have been raised in a city with such diversity of culture, food and drink.
Which brings me to my closing thought for the year: Hospitality is important. In a world seemingly imprisoned within the anonymous vitriol of the comments section and suffering the consequences when that hate inevitably oozes over into real life, bars, cafes, pubs and restaurants are a critical source of genuine, face-to-face interaction. These are the places we talk, we dance, we break bread, we build community, and we see each other for the complex and generally good creatures we all are.
So I hope you get the fuck off your phone to spend some time with friends and family this holiday season, or just to go lie in the grass and breathe. And if you’re missing out on relaxing and socialising because you’re on shift doing the noble work of providing a place for people to be people, thank you — I hope Santa puts a big stack of fifties in your tip jar.
Drinking Melbourne will be back in 2026 with more stories and news from the Melbourne bar world.
The latest issue of Boothby magazine has landed. Get the fifth issue of the magazine, with stories and interviews on Stefano Catino, Andy Chu, Three Horses, Abstract Bistrot, Holly Graham, Evan Stroeve, Mont Blancs, Blaze Young, Chinese wine, El Primo Sanchez, Bobby Carey, Jess Fitzgerald, Babines’ Suze To’, Wild Turkey’s Bruce Russell, FOCO in Barcelona, the Drink Of The Year, champagne, and plenty more. The best way to support Boothby is to get a subscription to the magazine.
