Eat Among the Clouds at Melbourne's New Sky-High 5-Star Restaurant Strato

Melbourne's Vue de Monde might have some high-rise competition next year, with the city set to get a new 5-star hospitality venue — 140 metres off the ground.

Like so many other projects, Sky Bar Melbourne was meant to launch this year, but COVID and construction delays have pushed the opening out to March, 2022. Still, we've got some early-release images and details to share with you.

You'll find SkyBar on the 40^th floor of Oakwood Premier in Southbank. Guests will enter via a private elevator in the main lobby. In the spirit of other ambitious, high-concept restaurants (we're looking at you, Society) the venue will feature five distinct dining areas, with seating for up to 250 patrons.

There'll be a VIP room, star-like chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, a floating al fresco terrace, immersive lighting projects (courtesy of The Sequence Group) and the main event: a 5-star restaurant named Strato with seven-metre windows lapping right around the venue.

Depending on where you sit, you'll get 360-degree views of Port Phillip Bay, the CBD skyline, the Yarra and the MCG. The sheer altitude of Sky Bar also means you'll be able to watch the weather sweep across Melbourne, and there'll be some pretty epic sunsets from the western side of the building. Don't be surprised if you're dining in the clouds, come winter.

"We couldn't be more excited to open Sky Bar Melbourne," says Norman Khan, Managing Director of Yarra Hotel Group. "Our vision for this venue has been to show off our amazing city in all its glory. We know the past 18 months have been hard and dining out is dearly missed. We've put a lot of effort into making Sky Bar Melbourne an entire experience, and the venue has been developed by a team of people who are passionate about hospitality."

It's clear the guys from Yarra Hotel Group are shooting for the moon with SkyBar. The menu concept for Strato alone promises "smoke, vapour, embers, levitation and nitrogen". It'll be interesting to see whether the CBD embraces sky-high dining, and how SkyBar figures with the city's post-COVID hospo recovery. Definitely, one to watch.

Sky Bar Melbourne is set to launch in March 2022. We'll bring you more details closer to the launch date.

Sky Bar Outlook: Rhiannon Taylor

UPDATE: Since opening in July 2022, the sky-high venues at 202 Normanby Street, Southbank, have been rebranded as one all-encompassing bar and eatery named Strato Melbourne. Find out more at the website.