In Japan, they take travel seriously. Not only do they provide their commuters with clean, reliable and punctual transport but they also throw in a Bullet Train for good measure.
Best of all, they understand that where people gather, food must follow. And by food we don’t mean fast food, well not on the western sense anyway, we mean enough quality and quantity to keep even the most foody-orientated commuter satiated.
And that, like so many trends that are coming from Japan (yes, Japanese Whisky and Gin, we are looking at you) has made its way down south to Melbourne. In the midst of Melbourne Central, a transit food court of unparalleled quality has opened called Ella.
And in the midst of Ella is Byrdi – a Tokyo inspired, Melbourne located, globally relevant, yet grounded in Singapore cocktail bar for the commuter masses.
Now I know what you’re thinking – a dive bar by any other name … but don’t let the location fool you. Commuter cocktails have gone upscale and Luke Whearty is here to show you that travel is the way forward with forward-thinking drinks for your travels.
“I think people that have travelled will definitely understand the concept but even if you haven’t travelled, it’s going to be something that is unmistakably welcome. It’s just raising the standard of what is on offer within the train station.”
In creating an offering in such an unusual location, Whearty has taken the opportunity to move away from conventional ideas when it comes to the bar design.
“The bar is about allowing a more immersive experience, first and foremost,” says Whearty. “But there is also an element of efficiency in there as well.
“So even the little things like pulling the bar away from any walls within the venue and putting it pretty much bang in the middle with seating all around will mean from the bartenders ‘points of view there’s nowhere to hide.
“But from a customers point of view, it’s all on show and it’s quite theatric and you can see everything from start to finish.”
For those who have travelled, Whearty’s name will be incredibly familiar from bars such as Operation Dagger in Singapore and even the short-lived, Outrage of Modesty in Cape Town. In both venues, Whearty has always taken an innovative approach to drinks that focused on flavour and creating a fun space.
Without the need to focus on brands, both these brands created drinks that used distillates and fermentation’s to create something new. But in Byrdi, while these principles will still apply, the aim will be to focus very much on produce.
“In Singapore it was probably one of my frustrations was that there was literally zero agriculture. The biggest difference [with Byrdi] will be the ability to focus on the produce side of things and the producers that we’re working with.
“The technique and the flavour side will always be present in whatever I do but here I want the focus to shine on those local producers who, to be honest in Australia, don’t get the credit that they deserve”.
Whearty says that while frustrations with produce and seasonality may have been issues in Singapore, it was having the project in South Africa for a year or so, that really woke him up again to the potential of what he could do.
“In South Africa, I really realised what I was missing and made me realise that I’d gone a bit stale. With the seasonal changes and the ability to work with amazing producers and chefs, I realised, “Well, this is what I want to do.”
It was at this point that Whearty and his wife and business partner, Aki, realised they could do the same thing in Australia.
But from a customers point of view, it’s all on show and it’s quite theatric and you can see everything from start to finish.
“I had to go all the way to South Africa to realize what I had back home,” he said.
But it’s not only drinks but also the food that will get the Whearty touch. “We’re not hiring chefs. The food is done by myself and Aki. And the bartenders will execute the food as well.
“It’s actually something I’ve done both in Singapore and in South Africa. I’ve done it for years now, it’s just I’ve never really made it a focus, so people don’t actually realize it. But yeah, we’ve always done the food.”
With such a culinary focus in the drinks that have been made, with use of food techniques as well as equipment, it’s not surprising that Whearty has as much of a foot in the kitchen as he does in the bar.
“Often the drinks that we’re working on have by-products that lend themselves to being a snack. A great example of that is when we make ricotta for a drink. The ricotta, of course, requires ricotta whey to ferment, so it’s perfect to be turned into one of our snacks – a house-made sourdough crumpet with ricotta and honey.
Whearty talks about using fermentation across the board, through both the food and the cocktails that he’ll be offering. Simple fermentation methods like different kinds of vinegars will be a focus and prepped in advance, with batches of honey vinegar and fermented lilly pilly, to make lilly pilly wine to name a few.
But even with ferments being one of the constants that run through the menu, Whearty points out that at Byrdi, flavour will be the word.
“Sure, we’ll distill everything in house and do all our own infusions, but it’s not so much about technique, as it is the flavour. I want us to be able to say, “Okay, this is what we’re really proud of right now because peaches are amazing right now or the strawberries or the apples.”
“We’ve got this one guy growing these herbs for us and they’re amazing, so we’ll manipulate it in a certain way but we won’t talk so much about how we manipulate it. It’s just basically, “This is what’s in season. Enjoy it.”
As these words might indicate, terroir, providence and seasonality will be very strong facets of the menu. “If people come in spring and then they come in summer, they will have two completely different experiences.
“The best experiences I’ve had in my life in terms of food and drink have been travelling overseas, going to the likes of a restaurant like Noma where that experience that you get at that restaurant can’t be replicated anywhere else in the world. It’s using Nordic ingredients, in season and it captures a time and a place and that’s what I want to capture here for Byrdi.”
Since Byrdi has been a concept that’s been three years in the making, both Whearty and his team have had the ability to set a lot of their preserving efforts into motion ahead of time. “We’ve been doing a lot of work preserving and things from past seasons.
“We’ve got a lot of preserved berries from last summer that we’re thinking about incorporating into drinks. So it’s basically you might have a drink will be last summer’s berries with a Vermouth made from the Wattle that’s actually just blooming now. It’ll be a combination of what’s really in season now, and what has been in-season before, that we’ve already preserved.”
While the ability to collaborate with farmers and producers was a big factor in Whearty’s decision to come home, inspiration has also been a big factor. While creating the venues he has overseas was an amazing experience, he mentions that they had presented huge challenges, both professionally and personally.
When the couple decided to have a baby, it set the wheels in motion to return. “And coming back home has just been an amazing experience – just feeling really invigorated again for the first time in a long time,” he said.
“Melbourne is a melting pot for that, you’ve got a strong Italian community, a Chinese community, Vietnamese. And that has just contributed to just being an amazing food destination really because there are all those different influences.
“We want to embrace those influences. Obviously, we want to work with some native stuff wherever we can as well, but it’s not our sole focus.
“So we’re working with coffee grown in Byron Bay and vanilla in Northern Queensland. They’re not native to Australia, they’re introduced. But there are some small producers producing a really high-quality product and I think that’s a strength of Australia and that’s what we really want to showcase, is all of the things that we have on offer here.
And the influence of nature will shine through the offerings, the interior and the way in which they work. “We’re situated pretty much bang in the dead centre of the city above a train station. It’s going to be so diverse and I think that’s exactly where we need to be, in terms of this concept.
“We’re showcasing the diversity and we’re showcasing what’s around us and we want to show that to everyone, so it makes sense for us to be in the city where everyone is. So I think there’s going to be a variety of people that take different things from the concept and that’s great.”
Whearty talks about the difference with Byrdi come down to a literal experience of discovery. In Singapore, where there are no signs to Operation Daggar, people had to seek them out and already know the story beforehand. With Byrdi the experience will be more organic.
“I’m sure there’s going to be people that know mine and Aki’s background and what we’ve done before and will come and check us out, or I hope so anyway,” he said. “But there’s going to be people I’m sure that have never heard of me before and just walk past and see it and think, ‘Oh, I’ll give it a go’.
“And that is exciting for me as well, because I’ve got people coming in with no preconceived ideas of what they’re expecting. It’ll be exciting and so diverse.”
Byrdi is now open at ELLA, Melbourne Central, Melbourn, Australia. For more information go to byrdi.com.au
