This Long-Standing CBD Wine Bar Has Unveiled a Snazzy New Look and Showstopping Amaro Collection
The newly imagined de Vine is a celebration of old school hospitality, classic Italian flavours and a very impressive drinks list.
After 21 years of trade, de Vine has a new look and feel. The wine bar and Italian restaurant that's long sat, unassuming, on a busy Market Street stretch has undergone a million-dollar renovation to reveal a swanky new interior with exposed brick, a curving granite bar, champagne-tinted mirrors and green velvet banquette seating.
The design is the kind of classic big city style you'd encounter in the osterias of New York or Chicago. The hospitality, however, has the warmth and personality of a small neighbourhood restaurant. If it feels like a family affair, that's because it is.
Restaurateur brother duo Anthony and Julian Izzillo (formerly of Wildfire Circular Quay) are behind the transformation of de Vine — but they're also front and centre of the service experience.
Anthony is often front of house, greeting guests and and talking them through the menu, while Julian is in charge of the drinks program which includes a showstopping selection of Amaro, all on show a brass wall display in the front bar seating section.
The wine offering is equally impressive with some 500 bottles available from the cellar. It is, after all, a wine bar first and foremost, and you can duck in for an elegant post-work or pre-theatre drink.
Julian Izzillo (left) and Anthony Izzillo in front of their huge Amaro selection.
Don't sleep on the food, though.
The kitchen is now helmed by Head Chef Timothy Fisher, previously of Michelin-starred Osteria Lucio in Dublin. The menu stars classical Italian dishes executed without fault like vitello tonnato and polpette meatballs, a lineup of excellent house made pastas, and mains like the pork cotoletta (which Anthony tells us is "life changing" although he may be biased).
Then, once the plates have been cleared, if amaro is your pleasure, just sit back and let Julian pick a match for your palate or treat yourself to a tasting flight.
Whether you're in the market for an intimate date venue or a power broker's lunch spot, the reimagined de Vine is worth rediscovering.
You'll find de Vine Wine Bar and Restaurant at 32 Market Street in the city — open 11.45am-10.30pm on Monday to Wednesday, 11.45am-11pm on Thursday and Friday, and 4.30pm-11pm on Saturdays. Head to the website to book.
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