Overview
What would Thor do if he built a bad-ass carvery and whiskey bar today? That's the exact question master barman Sven Almenning is asking himself as gets ready to go to work on his latest boozy business venture, Mjolnir. Owner and director of The Speakeasy Group — which operates Eau De Vie and The Roosevelt as well as Boilermaker House in Melbourne — Almenning is no stranger to fancy digs. Still, it's safe to say that Mjolnir is shaping up as his most audacious project yet.
Set to open early next year in an old tobacco factory on Cleveland Street, Mjolnir takes its name from the thunder god's mighty hammer, with Almenning describing the venue as "contemporary Viking luxe".
"Imagine that The Avengers are real," laughs Almenning. "One of the Avengers is Thor, the Norse God, and he's the protector of human kind. So he fights down on earth, but he misses home. So he builds this bar, to recreate the feasts and merriment of Valhalla. And that, my friend, is what we are doing."
As for the drinks list, think whisky — they'll have around 600. "My business partner and I have been wanting to do a heavily whiskey-focused bar in Sydney after we opened Boilermaker down in Melbourne last year," says Almenning.
But as great as that much whiskey sounds, what we're really excited about is the food. "We're running with a carvery, which will kind of happen in your face in the restaurant," he says. "So you'll be able to sit there and we'll have the chefs out with big-ass knives cutting up big bits of meat. It's going to get bloody."
"We'll see what happens by the time we open, but the plan at the moment is to have the menu change daily. The goal is to have one red meat, one white meat, one fish and one vegetarian dish as a main each day, at a set price. And we'll try and do the whole animal. So we'll have whole suckling pig, and then whole roasted lamb."
Construction on Mjolnir is set to begin in October, with February eyed as a potential start-of-service date. The 300-square-metre venue, which is part of a site currently being developed, will be licensed for 120 people initially, although Almenning hopes that number will be increased before too long.
The plan is that the bar will operate from around 4pm until midnight, six or seven days a week. "Closing at midnight unfortunately, because it's Sydney," says Almenning ruefully. "I'd love a 3am license."
Mjolnir will open at 267 Cleveland Street, Redfern come February next year. For more updates, keep an eye on their Instagram.
Image: Eau de Vie.