Bar Monte is chic and mature. It’s all maroon, terrazzo and tiling. Then there’s the ice shaver. Sitting proudly on the middle of the bar, it’s painted bright blue and dotted with metal penguins and fish. After seeing a Roman grattachecca machine on a trip, co-owner Lorenzo Toscani knew they had to have one at Bar Monte to make their Mango Mai Tai.
It’s that marriage of playful twists and old school hospitality that have made Toscani and his partners Kim Stephen and James Sutherland such a good team.
After opening in Miami last year, the trio have moved onto a second location in Newstead. The three also operate Pixie , and Stephen and Sutherland own The Smoking Camel and Light Years in Byron Bay. The team is tried and tested, so rather than starting from scratch in Newstead, they’ve brought together proven dishes from their existing venues.
“We just picked all the bulletproof items that we were already serving at Pixie and Bar Monte Miami,” says Toscani. “[We’re serving] the chicken from Pixie, but then the carpaccio from Bar Monte Miami. It was very easy to create the menu because the team here is the team that has worked in basically all three venues.”
Though Bar Monte is very contemporary Italian, Toscani has defended his traditional dishes with heart – especially the vitello tonnato. “My auntie used to make the best one all the time,” he says. “I gave it to one of our [Miami] regulars as a special once and he was confused about it, saying it’s meat but it tastes like fish. And I was like, ‘Oh, maybe it’s not for this market’, but then I see so many other people like it, especially when you serve it with the focaccia and you can just scoop up the tuna mayo.”
The menu is built around Italian classics and snacky plates. Smaller options include a mortadella bun with pickled green chilli and limoncello aioli, the group’s signature anchovy toast with smoked tomato butter, and gnocco fritto served with prosciutto and taleggio. A selection of cold-cuts – prosciutto, mortadella and bresaola – is sliced to order. Pasta dishes are deliberately simple. The risotto will change quarterly. They’re starting with pea and zucchini for spring. Mains include an eggplant cotoletta with pepperonata sugo; market fish with Jerusalem artichoke and gremolata; and a steak rubbed with porcini and served with onion and marrow butter.
The drinks program is designed with a similar approach. “James is a wine lover, but me and Kim are really into tequila,” Toscani says. “When it comes to the cocktails, we do tend to approve the tequila cocktails more easily than we approve any other cocktail.” The result is a drinks list, which – in a classically Gold Coast way – highlights tequila above anything else. This is balanced with a schmick 100-bottle wine offering comprising mostly Australian and European producers, all displayed on wall-mounted shelves.
Bar Monte has taken over the former Allonda site, but any trace of Allonda’s minimalism has been reworked, with Bar Monte’s signature blue, brown and burnt orange. Retro details include frosted glass, popcorn-textured walls, blue and maroon tiling and Bauhaus-inspired furniture. There are around 75 seats inside, with space for another 25 outside. A mezzanine level is set to open in October, where the team will host private events for up to 50 guests.
“The Brisbane customers I’ve met so far are all great,” Toscani says. “The crowd is what we like and we are what they like.”
Bar Monte
17 Longland Street, Newstead
0435808386
Hours:
Wed and Thu midday–9pm
Fri and Sat midday–10pm
Sun midday–8.30pm
@barmonteitalian
www.barmonte.com.au/newstead
Dining and Cooking