Neighbourhood Wine, Fitzroy North
Instagram: @neighbourhoodwine
Over the past decade the beloved bistro and wine bar has become a house-hold name in Melbourne’s hospitality scene, leading the way in holistic cooking and low-interference wine. Led by life and business partners Almay Jordaan and Simon Denman, it’s a paean to straightforward cooking, seasonality and beautiful hospitality. With a wine list of over 750 bottles, this Bastille Day, the team will be cracking open an exclusive selection of premium French pours, available by the glass, for one day and one day only. These wines are the once-a-year types that wine enthusiasts will savour for special occasions and are never available by the glass.
For example, only one bottle of the 2016 Emmanuel Houillon from the Jura region was allocated to the restaurant last year – they actually hid this bottle back because the other 3 bottles were snapped up within 12 hours of them posting the wine lists online! From Burgundy to Champagne, the Loire Valley to Alsace, the wines on offer are true rarities and the product of Neighbourhood Wine’s decade long obsession; a lifetime of wine loving has been distilled into this exclusive Bastille Day wine list – the perfect celebratory sip for any wine aficionado.
Menu here
Omnia Bistro & Bar, South Yarra
Instagram: @omniabistro
Known for their modern twist on elevated bistro classics, the two hatted Omnia Bistro & Bar is the perfect place to celebrate Bastille Day. With seasonal produce, culinary craft, and the warmth of old-world hospitality at its cornerstone, Omnia epitomises the foundations of French gastronomy. Journey through the restaurant’s menu of fine-dining precision and bistro favourites, including Omnia’s favourite dry-aged honey roast duck. Diners can delight at their tableside trolley experiences, which offers them a front row seat on the action as their weekly changing house cocktails, such as the Martini, are shaken or stirred to guests’ preference, and their seasonally changing courses, such as the boeuf tartare are made in front of their eyes.
The pièce de résistance is Omnia’s famous cheese trolley, which roams the room and is home to a stonking rotating selection of French cheeses, such as a Chabichou goats, the firm but buttery Tomme Aux Fleur and the creamy Affidélice au Chablis. Moreover, guests will be able to wash each dish down with a glass from their extensive wine list that houses some venerable French drops, such as a Domaine Rougeot Dupin from Burgundy or the Charles Heidsieck Brut Reserve from Champagne, for those really in the mood to celebrate.