Welcome to Sidecar No Sugar, a weekly Boothby newsletter about Brisbane bars and the people, work and creativity that grounds it. (You can sign up to get it in your inbox each week, right here.) This week, I visited Marlowe, Brisbane’s newest Australian bistro in a refurbished 1930s art deco apartment block. The fitout is chic but the drinks are chicer – macadamia martinis, saltbush highballs and lemon myrtle non-alc palate cleansers – who knew Australiana could be so elegant?
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A space commands all. At some restaurants and bars, the space can get your heart pumping, the sweat on the back of your neck going, the voice in your head shouting. The stakes are high – where is the bathroom? Who is my waiter? How do I get a drink at the bar without looking like an idiot?
At Marlowe, Fish Lane’s new Australian bistro from the Fanda Group – none of these questions are induced. It could be that the layout is reassuring in its homeliness or feng shui, or simply that a balance of ornate ceiling moulding, Bauhaus steel finishes and Wes Anderson-esque framing of tables slows my heart rate. Couple all that with a bar in a former air-raid shelter (fun history moment), and I’m feeling extra settled in.
Digging into a trifle while a Martini is poured tableside in a dimly lit sunroom is not something I expected to experience any time soon (in Brisbane, at least). First impressions matter, and when the space and drinks are the first experiences of every diner, it pays to nail both.
At Marlowe, beverage director Peter Marchant has built a drinks program with one clear philosophy: if the food is Australian, so should the drinks be.
“The key thing for me was trying to really focus on Australia as much as possible, because that’s kind of where Ollie was heading with the food,” he says. “I sort of get annoyed with restaurants that talk about local produce, local produce, it’s all about food and 500 miles, all that kind of stuff, and then they’re drinking chablis. It’s kind of weird. There’s a disconnect there that we want to avoid as much as possible.”
That means an all-Australian wine list – save for 13 slots reserved for ever-sacred champagne – and cocktails built with local spirits and fortifieds. Marchant is clear on the timing: “There’s never been a better time to drink Australian wine. It’s as simple as that. The quality is exceptional, the value for money is exceptional.”
Where neighbour Clarence (another visit-worthy Euro-Australian bistro) leans into the cool kid growers and funky labels, Marlowe keeps the focus on classic producers and traditional styles. “We’re playing with Chambers of Rutherglen [wines], which is one of the super old, really classic fortified producers, and using their fortified wines in cocktails,” Marchant says. “They’re not necessarily ‘cool’ in inverted commas, but they’re just really, really good. Tyrrell’s is not the most exciting wine on the planet, but the products and the history is incredible. We’re trying to show this generation of drinkers that there is more than just the natty stuff.”
The cocktails in question are led by bar manager Ty Kuhn (ex-Death & Taxes and Cobbler). The Deco Martini could convert most Martini-skeptics via a precise ratio of Hartshorn Sheep’s Whey Gin and macadamia manzanilla garnished with macadamia oil. Salted macadamias between sweetish sips make a whole world of sense. Bonus points for pouring some at the table, and leaving the rest on ice.
For something more tropical, you have the Pine Rose Daiquiri (cocoa butter Beefeater, kiwi-strawberry cordial, passionfruit verjus, coconut water, and meringue milk) or for an earthy, refreshing number, the Saltbush & Beeswax Highball (saltbush, fino, beeswax gin, lemon and tonic) pairs well with a prawn cocktail tartlet. Alliteration hates to see a Native Negroni coming until it realises it’s made with Loborn Amaro from Mount Tamborine only an hour away – as local as it gets.
Marchant is reconsidering the value of a strong cocktail list. “A lot of restaurants think about cocktails last, whereas that’s certainly not the case for us and moving forward it is going to be a big part of our businesses. We want people involved that do know what they're talking about, and not just in the background making rum and cokes.”
The Last Word
Have you entered your drink into the Drink of the Year Awards yet? It’s got to be a drink that has been on the list at your bar, or regularly available, for some time during the past 12 months. You’ll need a good photo of the drink, one of yourself, the recipe and some more info which you can find at boothby.com.au/drinkoftheyear — entries close 11:59PM AEDT Friday 17 October.
Boothby Staff
