Overview
Worry not if you didn't manage to get a European summer this year, for the Afloat crew has brought a slice of it to Melbourne — this time modelling its floating bar after Italian beach clubs.
This is Afloat's ninth iteration, having drawn inspiration from Mexico in 2023, the Balearic Islands in 2022 and Turkey's Turquoise Coast in 2021. As it was with these past versions, the new Afloat Capri has an entirely new look, food and drink lineup, and music and entertainment program.
Now, drop by to find yellow and white striped umbrellas, lemon trees, colourful ceramic planters, terracotta tiled roofs, rosemary plants and sorbet-hued walls covered in hand-painted illustrations. This is clearly one of the top destinations for spritz-sippers in Melbourne this summer.
And that's not only because of its new design and watertop location. The drinks menu is sure to hit all the right spots as well, thanks to HQ Group's Head of Cocktails Tom Younger. He has spent many a month dreaming up the new Italian-inspired beverage menu, pumping it full of 25 citrus- and aperitif-driven cocktails.
Most of these are said to be "smashable", including the six spritz options — think Aperol, limoncello, pink gin, elderflower, Montenegro and berry.
There's even a few special Pidapipo gelato-based cocktails, like the Sgroppino Sour (on tap) made with gin, lemon sorbet and prosecco, and boozy ice cream floats (better known as spiders to many of us).
The food menu is also stacked with crowd-pleasing dishes, from pasta and pizza (Neapolitan-style pizza and focaccia-like Sicilian pizzettes) to seafood platters and antipasti medleys.
DJs will also be playing tunes every day down by the river, plus the Afloat crew will even be hosting mozzarella-making and pizza-making parties later in the year.
Like always, the Arbory crew is opening the floating bar in stages. Right now, the main area of Afloat is free to enjoy, while the Aperol Pool Bar & Deck, and second-storey Peroni Capri Upper Terrazza will open in the coming months.
If you want to get the full effect, you might want to wait a little longer — or just keep returning throughout the summer.
Images: Kim Canales-Ascui.