Opening restaurants is a family affair for Shane Delia. Maha is named after his wife and his daughter, Jayda, wanted to get in on the action.

“She’s been on my back, I love mum more than her,” Delia laughs. “We have to keep it in the family. Restaurants should mean something and this is close to my soul. I do have a son, Jude, but he’s made it really clear he doesn’t want a small restaurant so he’ll have to wait.”

Jayda is a new addition to Melbourne’s bar scene. The 60-seater venue is situated next door to Maha, but is its own beast. Studio Y has created a venue divided into two distinct sections separated by an archway, a front bar and back lounge. Hang out at the seats surrounding the black marble-topped, cladded, curved green bar or step through the archway into an art deco aesthetic with low tables.

“Melbourne has a really vibrant bar scene, but what you find here is very different. Melbourne needs a bar where you can get a drink in less than 10 minutes, because the bartender’s not trying to seduce you with magic and smoke,” Delia says.

“It’s a multifaceted space, where you can have a quiet conversation but also walk into a rowdy room that has an intriguing Middle Eastern accent.”

Related story: Shane Delia’s glam new cocktail bar Jayda to open in Melbourne this spring

Bespoke cocktails are courtesy of master mixologist and ex-World Class Bartender of the Year, Orlando Marzo. Delia’s pick is the Strawberry Cream Negroni, a decadent aperitif made with rosehip, blackberry leaves and dehydrated yoghurt.

With Delia at the helm, food is a focus. “At the other restaurants we write the food menu first and think about how people dine, here we’ve designed the menu to enhance people’s drinking experience. It’s all finger food, no forks and knives here, everything is designed to be picked up and eaten,” Delia says.

Feeling flush? Order oysters and oscietra caviar from the ‘raw’ section of the menu to go with bottles of Dom Perignon 2012. The ‘snacks’ section sees delicate dishes such as a kingfish, finger lime and taramasalata tart or beef borek bun with turmeric, tamarind and coconut. The ‘more’ section is something you don’t see a lot of at fancy bars – sandwiches. There’s a basturma, kasseri cheese, pickle and mustard toastie or the after-service sandwich.

“When people are here past midnight, you can’t be too refined. The sandwich has been a staff hit for a long time and we’ve unleashed it to the public,” Delia says.

“My chefs put all the caramelised bits of lamb from the roasting trays that look ugly and we can’t serve, but they’re the best bits, into leftover bread rolls after service and dip it into the lamb jus. It’s so bloody tasty. We can’t serve them at Maha, but it’s a cracker of a thing in the bar.”

Speaking of Maha, those in the know can ask for off-the-menu options. Delia has made a name for himself with the Maha empire, all of which have a strong Middle Eastern accent, but one of the reasons he didn’t name the bar Maha-Next-Door is that he wanted it to stand alone.

“Jayda is the least Middle Eastern out of all of them, it’s a lot more Mediterranean,” he says. “We’ve done the Maha variants and I want to establish Jayda as its own identity. It’s here as a daughter would be to a mother, they support each other, but the daughter also has a rebellious streak and wants to be her own person.”

Jayda
19 Bond St, Melbourne 3000
Open daily 4pm to late
barjayda.com.au

Related review: delicious. 100 Melbourne’s 56 – Maha