Overview
If there's one type of hospitality offering that Melbourne is lacking, it's the all-day venue. You know, somewhere that you can sit with a coffee and read the paper, whether it's 8am or 5pm. Somewhere that you can go to finish off some work and then transition straight into knock-off drinks. But the CBD is getting there, especially when Morgan McGlone opens his new morning-to-night all-rounder on Collins Street in February next year.
Natural History will be the Belles Hot Chicken chef's biggest venue to date. That's because it won't just be one venue, but, effectively, it will be two. Up front will be the cafe, which will serve up the more casual fare: coffee, doughnuts, pastries and porchetta rolls. But venture further into the space and you'll find the bar and grill — a huge 350-seat venue in the vein of upmarket bistros you might find in NYC.
It doesn't look like fried chicken is on the menu, either. Rather, diners will be able to choose from steak tartare with fried oysters, pork chops and a one-kilo T-bone steak. Desserts will be distinctly American — think key lime pie and peach cobbler.
What we're perhaps more excited about is the drinks list. McGlone has been championing natural wines for a while now, and Natural History will give him the chance to stock a full bar with them, along with local craft and non-pasteurised beers.
He's teamed up with the 100 Burgers group (Mr Burger etc.) and Michael Delany and Jaimie Wirth (of hospo partnership International Worldwide) to make the space a reality. The design sounds like it's aiming to transport diners far away from Melbourne with vintage 60s tiling, 19th century stained glass and a straw ceiling. There will also be a 15-metre-long taxidermy 'diorama' set up along the dining room wall, which sounds...interesting.
Natural History will be open Monday to Saturday from 7am to late from February 2018. We'll keep you updated on an opening date — but until then, we'll anticipate a new space that we can visit any time of the day.