Overview
From the team who brought you northside favourites Wide Open Road and Heartattack and Vine comes Bedford St, an all-day eatery and the newest addition to your Merciful Gods, We MUST Eat Here list. And, to the delight of the Carlton cafe and wine bar's avid fan base, there isn't even a wait time — Bedford St is already open.
Sitting in the old Heart of Europe space on Johnston Street, the bar will be open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, seven days a week. It's a joint venture between Wide Open Road and Heartattack and Vine proprietors Hootan Heydari and Jono Hill, their long-time employee Mark Jacobson and chef Daniel Dobra, who's magicked up a menu described as contemporary Australian with a twist. But don't think this means sub-par pub grub covered in pork floss. Dobra's (ex-Brutale, The Beaufort) menu is very twisty indeed, with dishes like a gourmet peameal bacon sandie with house-made sauce on white bread, a taco salad, and mac and cheese pancakes (with a side of maple syrup and bacon, of course). They'll also offer the standards of any good 2016 establishment: fried chicken (for which Dobra is famous) and burgers.
Thanks to the full kitchen, the team have been able to expand on the all-day Heartattack and Vine concept in an ambitious way at Bedford Street, says Heydari. "You can come in for breakfast, for a snack or come back at nighttime and have a full meal," he says. "They're very simple dishes, but with the amount of detail that goes into it, you get a very simple dish that's out of this world."
Speaking of out of this world, dessert includes indulgent options like a salted caramel lamington, toasted Wagon Wheel pie (!!) and toffee apple fritters served with crème fraîche. These guys aren't messing around — they're serving grown up versions of your childhood faves and it sounds goddamn delightful.
The space looks pretty delightful too. Heydari says that, when it came to dressing up the interior with architect and collaborator Nicky Adams, they let the space inform the design. Their inspiration? The '90s neo-noir classic Blade Runner. "It's a step away from what Heartattack is," says Heydari. "We don't want to rehash the same thing — we want to be a bit more ambitious with this one. It's a beautiful space." Yep, you really have to pay the venue a visit now.
So while you shouldn't expect a carbon copy of Heartattack and Vine, you can expect Bedford St to be equally as considered, elegant and off-centre. They've opened this week — just in time for the weekend.
Bedford St is located at 11-13 Johnston Street, Collingwood. It's open Monday to Friday from 7am till 11pm and Saturday to Sunday 8am till midnight. For more information, visit their Instagram.