News just in that Melbourne will add to its already impressive array of high-quality cocktail bars, as Hunter St. Hospitality announces plans for its latest venture opening this April. Bar Ferdinand, boasting just 21 seats, is set to bring a distinctive mood to Melbourne, inspired by the romance of a botanic garden. Bar Ferdinand is set to shake up the cocktail bar scene with a cocktail menu structured as a walk through a fictional garden. Housed on the top level of an 1885 heritage-listed building, the new whimsical bar will open above Hunter St. Hospitality's steak and frites restaurant, 7 Alfred. The botanical-inspired cocktail menu has been developed by Hunter St. Hospitality Beverage Director Ali Toghani, in collaboration with Bar Manager Greg Thompson (whose resume includes stints at Apollo Inn, Gimlet and Dinner by Heston). Each drink on the menu is aligned with a different collection: Rose, Fern, Camelia, Eucalypt, Arid, and Herb & Medicinal, to name just a few. While the specific drinks will rotate, the collections will remain as a constant through-line, allowing for an evolving menu that maintains its identity. "The gardens give us a framework that we can keep returning to, even as the drinks change. A Rose Garden cocktail in a few months' time will be very different to what it is now, and that's true of the whole menu. What shifts is how each one is expressed at that moment, depending on the produce, the season and where we want to take it. Sometimes that means thinking less literally. With Fern Garden, for example, you can't really work from fern as a flavour, so it becomes about capturing the feeling of walking through a fernery: the drop in temperature, the earthiness, the smell of rain. That challenge is what keeps the menu alive," says Thompson. The name and general concept draw on the building's history, which dates back to the German Social Club established in 1885. The site was frequented by one of the leading botanists of the time, none other than Ferdinand von Mueller. Above the bar, an imposing installation of dried Queen Anne's Lace sits as a sculptural centrepiece, while wooden herringbone floors, studded leather couches, marble tables and brass finishes create an atmosphere that transports you elsewhere. Two house signature cocktails will sit outside the garden format, the House Martini with gin, vodka, Cocchi Americano and freeze-infused apple mint, and the House Japanese Slipper with house melon liqueur, yuzu liquor and citrus cordial. Cocktails are the obvious star of the show, with bottled beer, a compact wine list, and a concise menu of drink-friendly snacks and small plates completing the offering. Imagined as polished picnic-hamper delights, expect the likes of anchovies with lemon, a pork and pistachio terrine, a German pretzel with salted butter, and chocolate bark with wattleseed. Images: Kristoffer Paulsen. Like what you see? Subscribe to the Concrete Playground newsletter to get stories just like these straight to your inbox.