Southbank's New 40th-Floor Sky Bar Is Opening This Month for Wining and Dining in the Clouds

Folks, there's a flashy newcomer set to join Melbourne's food and drink scene in a matter of weeks, and it promises to take things to a whole new level — quite literally.

Announced in December last year, the much-anticipated Sky Bar has revealed it'll officially launch on Thursday, June 30, finally welcoming guests into its show-stopping space perched 139 metres above Southbank. (For those playing along at home, that's slightly under where Vue de Monde sits up on the 55th floor of the Rialto.)

Five years in the making, the game-changing venue will crown the new Oakwood Premier Melbourne building, with a five-star restaurant, lounge bar and private dining spread across its top two floors.

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Whiz on skyward in the lift to Level 40 and you'll find yourself in a grand foyer boasting views for days and with an immersive video projection artwork enveloping the floors and mirrored walls.

The adjacent Sky Bar Lounge has space for 70, offering more sensational vistas from its seven-meter-tall windows and dedicated terrace. With an impressive stone bar taking pride of place, this sky-high haunt is set to sling a sophisticated offering of cocktails, vino, local craft beer and upscale snacks — including Kobe veal sliders and foie gras macarons.

On the same floor, 60-seat restaurant Strato will be dishing up what's set to be one of Melbourne's most elevated dining experiences. The seasonal modern Australian menu is built around five elements — the atmosphere (air), the hydrosphere (water), the cryosphere (ice and permafrost), the lithosphere (earth's upper rocky layer) and the biosphere (living things). To that end, expect plenty of theatre to accompany a meal up here in the clouds; think, vapours, embers, nitrogen and even the odd spot of levitation.

The menu's set to feature plates like grain-fed beef tartare, a salt and pepper macaron paired with scampi caviar, venison black pudding croquettes and a kingfish ceviche with heirloom tomato crust, along with a daily-changing caviar offering.

Venture to the mezzanine above and you'll find a sumptuous VIP private dining space, complete with its own bar and more dazzling views.

Celebrated bartender Charlie Ainsbury (This Must Be the Place, Proof & Company) has helmed a fittingly lofty venue-wide cocktail program, where the old world meets the new, and rare spirits and uncommon ingredients are brought to the forefront. Expect drops like a lychee martini misted with rosewater, a Davidson plum-infused bellini and a riff on the negroni garnished with blood plum.

The rest of the drinks offering promises a hefty range of pouring wines from near and far, and a local-leaning beer list that includes a signature Sky Bar creation.

And in case you were wondering, yes: boozy brunch is set to be a regular weekend occurrence up here, as is a high tea featuring homemade scones, petit fours and champagne.

Find Sky Bar Melbourne at Level 41 & 42, 202 Normanby Street, Southbank, from Thursday, June 30. Opening hours to come.

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.