David Moyle’s Longsong Bar to open in November
David Moyle, well known for his work at the Franklin in Hobart, is returning to Melbourne to set up his own business.
And this one will be a work of collaboration.
The Longsong is a new Chinatown bar and will open next week on November 3.
Converted from what was once a horse stable, it will have space for 250 people sitting beneath its soaring peaked ceiling.
There will be a 30-seat dining area near the kitchen and a private mezzanine dining space also seating about 30.
Significantly, Moyle isn’t doing this on his own. He is collaborating with John and Lisa van Haandel of Longrain who are located downstairs.
Longsong has been on the cards for years. There were some inevitable heritage and structural issues that come with a century-old CBD building. The second-story horse stable was last used in the mid 1900s and there’s access via the original ramps used by the horses each day.
The place will feature the original brick walls, cobbled stable floors and horse ramp.
Tall windows have been put in to pull in light.
The bar, kitchen and bathrooms, and sculptural lighting are housed in three separate pods.
As for the menu, it will be cooked over coal.
There will be hand-held snacks, food on sticks and large-format meat dishes including Chinese-style duck, chicken, whole fish and pork, along with vegetables and salads.
The focus will be on sustainable produce with offerings that include light salads to the wood-grilled, and, needless to say, a plethora of bar snacks.
The drinks menu will be a mix of tapped wine barrels, beer kegs and custom-bottled craft spirits.
“We set about to transform the incredible space above Longrain, creating a new, casual and relaxed bar atmosphere with a lighter palate than many Melbourne offering,” John van Haandel told Delicious.
“Longsong is a little bit punk, a little bit rebel, a little bit street. It’s Longrain’s naughty little brother. We are all very excited to open.”
by Leon Gettler, October 24th 2017
image - Adam Gibson
