Edwin Wine Bar & Cellar has opened in the new Shadow Play by Peppers at Southbank, Melbourne. The venue shines a spotlight exclusively on Victorian food and beverages.
Developed by luxury property developer Jonathan Hallinan of BPM Corp, the hotel and restaurant’s aesthetic reflects his personal style alongside that of his company.
Dark décor is offset by a fresh food and beverage offering.
“Our Head Chef Ritesh Patil and Sommelier Yu Kurosawa have created an extraordinary dining experience that celebrates the diversity of Victoria and Victorians,” says general manager Alistair Munro. “Our menu is not just curated from the inspiration of Victoria’s best wine and produce, its philosophy is based on gender equity and fostering a relationship with local producers.”
Resident Sommelier Yu Kurosawa says every wine has a story, not just about how it tastes and what food it should be paired with, but how and where the grapes were grown and the individual style of the winemaker.
“Our menu features wine from each of Victoria’s 21 wine regions with an almost equal gender balance between male and female winemakers,” says Kurosawa.
“We hang our hat on the fact our wine list has been curated to be filled with Victorian wines, including some of Australia’s most well-known and sought after wine labels such as Crawford River, Bindi, Yarra Yering and Sorrenberg just to name a few.
“In fact, our entire drinks menu is locally sourced including water and soft drinks from Daylesford, orange juice from Caulfield and soda and mixers from Kyneton.”
Spirits including gin, vodka, whisky, rum, vermouth and liqueurs are also produced in Victoria.
The venue is also offer a monthly wine program. Created by sommelier and wine educator Dan Sims, it’s designed to help guests discover the stories behind Shadow Play by Peppers wine list. Each month will focus on a different Victorian wine region, with the evening events to be presented by the winemakers themselves.
Talking about the venue’s food offering, head chef Ritesh Patil says it was not difficult to create a menu that exclusively featured produce from Victoria.
“Not only does Victoria produce the best seafood, meats, cheeses and local produce in Australia but we have some great local producers here who deserve to step out of the shadows of being just a supplier and be seen as co-creators of our menu of excellence,” says Patil.
The menu highlights its locally cured in Daylesford salumi selection and celebrates cheese supplied by Marie at Emerald Deli at South Melbourne markets.
Patil’s style is all about simplicity with just four or five ingredients on a plate: “It is much more powerful to have each ingredient speak for itself. I don’t over complicate my dishes because this just drowns each ingredient’s contribution to a dish.”
Edwin Wine Bar & Cellar is open daily for breakfast, lunch and dinner.