Update: Amphlett House has closed. 

Amphlett House is turning the idea of a taphouse on its head. The soon-to-open venue in the CBD isn’t just for beer; the 20 taps will have 14 different drinks on offer, including cider, seltzer, wine and cocktails. Ovolo’s creative beverage director, Andrea Gualdi, is taking his high-end cocktail experience from running Sydney’s Maybe Sammy (named Best Bar in Australasia 2021 by The World’s 50 Best Bars) and applying it at a more casual venue.

“With my background, this is a very fun challenge,” he says. “I wanted to see how much you can push the boundaries between something perceived as a humble taphouse and bringing in high-level cocktails.

“A taphouse is a refined type of pub. You can get your pots and schooners; we have a very good selection of wine, predominantly from Australia, and our first cocktail on tap is the coffee and orange Americano.”

Cocktails on tap tend to be viewed as an inferior product, but Gualdi believes they’re the next big thing. “I’ve always been a fan of cocktails on tap,” he says. “I believe they create a beautiful, consistent product, regardless of which bartender makes it. The team members can focus on the guests rather than on the shaker.”

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“Some of the world’s best bars are doing cocktails on tap,” Gualdi continues. “There is a bit of a bad reputation about it, same as it used to be for non-alcoholic cocktails – it used to be a bunch of juices. But now they’re super creative. Cocktails on tap are next.”

Not only has Gualdi put an Australiana spin on popular cocktails – such as the wattleseed negroni, finger lime daiquiri or eucalyptus-smoked margarita – he also collaborated on their creation with a food scientist. “I am passionate about cocktails,” he says. “I know my drinks and how to serve them, but it’s good to surround yourself with people who know more than you.

“I send this guy my recipes; we try them together and they recreate these cocktails with sustainable technology. In our margarita, we use finger lime and lime to give a bit of body, but instead of juicing the lime and throwing away the skin, we freeze-dry the limes and infuse them in alcohol to give the same feeling and acidity of a fresh product.”

Gualdi designed the drinks menu to complement the food of Ovolo’s director of kitchen operations, chef Ian Curley, with both following the brief of “classic, but with a twist”.

Dishes include smoked bone marrow on toast with parsley and shallot salad; oysters with mignonette dressing and shaved horseradish; breaded chicken breast with Italian coleslaw; and fish and hand-cut chips with peas, zucchini and yoghurt tartare.

“It is refined, classic pub food,” Gualdi says. “The cocktails will not overpower the food; they’re pretty light in flavour, but there is complexity. You can have three or four drinks and not feel overwhelmed.

“Every city needs a venue like Amphlett House. I’m a big fan of traditional types of venues and this is our interpretation of it.”

Amphlett House
19 Little Bourke St, Melbourne VIC 3000
Mon-Sat 11:30am-late
Sun 11:30am-6:30pm
amphletthouse.com.au

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