Dier Makr owners Sarah Fitzsimmons and Kobi Ruzicka have been dreaming about a wine bar for a long time. So when the street-side cafe in front of their Hobart restaurant Dier Makr came up for lease, they pounced and are getting ready to open a late-night spot called Lucinda Wine there next month.
“That cafe has been on our wish list for a while,” says Ruzicka, chef at Dier Makr. “We’ve been doing a bar snack list alongside our set menu at Dier Makr but we knew it had got to the point where it was time to split the bar and restaurant concepts into two separate venues. The cafe was the space where we wanted to do it.”
Lucinda, named for a Tom Waites song, will be a casual drinking venue with a list of “tasty, easy-to-eat, wine-friendly food” that leans towards classic French. Think pâté en croûte, beef Wellington and rillettes.
“I wanted to offer food that is familiar and deceptively simple but actually represents a lot of effort in sourcing produce and execution,” says Ruzicka.
Pâté en croûte
The natural, organic and biodynamic wine tendencies of Dier Makr will also be on display at Lucinda, although with an increased number of options by the glass and a more extensive bottle range. The list will have a global focus with a Coravin system ensuring rare and unusual stuff on pour.
The pre-batched classic cocktails that have won fans at the restaurant will be joined by drinks that make clever use of kitchen and bar byproducts. Citrus rinds, for example, will be burnt to make a bitter tonic for cocktails, and fruit and vegetable scraps will be brewed into a house kombucha.
The idea for Lucinda Wine came from Ruzicka and Fitzsimmons being unable to go anywhere for a drink and a snack after they’d finished work late at night.
“When we moved here from Melbourne I was looking for an institution like The European that opened late every night but there wasn’t one,” says Ruzicka. “So we decided to open something like that to create that culture.”
The wine bar is expected to open in November, a short turnaround helped by the good bones of the heritage building.
“It’s a beautiful room with pressed metal ceilings, hardwood floors and blackwood door frames so all it really needed was a bit of a tidy-up,” says Ruzicka. “I’ve been sitting on the name for eight years so we’re obviously ready to go.”
Lucinda Wine, 123 Collins St, Hobart.
