Natural History Bar and Grill comes to Melbourne
A suave late night American diner slash steakhouse slash caviar and oyster bar operating out of an old 1940s building has opened in Melbourne’s CBD.
It’s the creation of chef Morgan McGlone and the 100 Burgers Group, the outfit behind outlets like Belle’s Hot Chicken and Mr Burger.
The place was designed by Michael Delany, who drew his inspiration from Manhattan’s Natural History Museum and the century-old Grand Central Oyster Bar.
The result is a place steeped in sophistication and playfulness.
Working with artist Vanja Zaric, Delaney has created a venue that also offers shades of fantasy with a duck flying among the stars, a white peacock set against a weird tie-dye moon, and dog-eared skinny foxes looking down at diners eating t pork chops with onions roasted with beer, and cheesecake with cherries and cream.
It has qualities of an American diner with red vinyl stools at the glass-topped porchetta bar, which displays a collection of matchboxes from longstanding or deceased businesses.
The oval-shaped oyster bar is ringed by dark leather stools and green glass partitions. At the bar, there are rape-red leather and brass inlays. There is also a two-tone, egg-white-and-yellow walls nod to the Mr Burger food-truck design.
This is McGlone’s 17th restaurant opening.
“It’s an homage to the good old steak houses of New York, with a modern Australian slant,” McGlone told Broadsheet.
The meat there is in a class of its own: one-kilo club, 500-gram rib eye, eye-fillet; sliced hanger, tartare served with puffed beef tendon chips and hot sauce. And there’s a burger.
“Every steak house in the world has a great burger,” McGlone told Broadsheet. “I wanted a grown-up atmosphere to have a really nice cheeseburger in.”
“You’re definitely well [taken care of] if you’re a carnivore, but there’s … a lighter touch in some of the dishes for a steakhouse.”
Leon Getler 16th March
