Overview
A new Catalan-inspired wine bar is set to open in Redfern this spring from the team behind Love Tilly Devine, Dear Sainte Eloise and Ragazzi. Popping up inside the newly renovated Norfolk House and Hotel on Cleveland Street, La Salut will serve Spanish wines and a seafood-heavy Spanish fare.
At the helm of La Salut is Love Tilly's Matt Swieboda and Nate Hatwell, alongside Executive Chef and co-owner Scott McComas-Williams (Ragazzi, Fabbrica). The wine bar will sit inside the old sports bar of the hotel and will be fit-out with earthy tones and polished concrete. It will have a focus on rare Spanish wines and vermouth, with Hatwell describing it as "wine-focused, but not wine-serious". Some drops you can expect to discover include pestillant-naturel wine from Nuria Renom, oxidative Palomino-based whites from Ramiro Ibáñez and wines aged in underground amphoras.
Scott McComas-Williams, Matt Swieboda and Nate Hatwell by Dexter Kim
If you're feeling peckish while you're on your journey through these Spanish tipples, you'll be able to snack on manchego and anchovies, spiced fried quail, and a dish pulled from McComas-Williams' favourite Barcelona vermouth bar Morro Fi made with mussels, hot sauce and chips.
Just like at Ragazzi, the menu will change regularly, with the seafood dishes being informed by the catch of the day.
McComas-Williams waxed lyrical about his passion for the Catalan snacking culture when we asked him about the inspiration behind his latest culinary venture. He said, "The cuisine itself obviously holds a significant space in my heart, but I think it's just as much the culture of drinking and eating that warrants my obsession. The service style is perfectly laidback yet so, so important to life there. Particularly in Barcelona, where vermouth and simple but delicious snacks are a part of life."
"This venue excites me because, in true Barcelona style, there isn't really a kitchen," he explains. "Some of the best bar food in Barcelona isn't prepared by chefs but just put together by the same old man that will pour your vermouth or top up your cerveza. We've dedicated a portion of the bar for raw seafood service as well as a slicing section purely for jamon."
Trent van der Jagt
While the full experience of La Salut will only be available by heading to the wine bar, a lineup of the venue's wines will be available for purchase throughout the Norfolk House and Hotel, and for takeaway to enjoy at home via the Norfolk's bottle shop.
The 40-seat venue is a collaboration between the Love Tilly Group and new hospitality and accommodation group The People_ who were behind the transformation of Norfolk House and Hotel. The historic pub underwent a huge renovation and was set to reopen with two bars, an expansive outdoor courtyard, a new barbecue-focused menu and accommodation in July before Sydney's lockdown hit. Now it's set to swing open its doors to the public once the state hits 70-percent double vaccination — with La Salut set to follow it soon after.
It will be a fantastic addition to the ever-growing lineup of great eats settling in the inner west, something that Scott McComas-Williams is pretty psyched about too.
"I'm very excited about this, too, being an inner west man myself," he told us. "I've always been keen to do something around those traps. The space is a great vibe for a vermouth bar and has a little more natural light than our other venues... Come hang with your mates on a Saturday lunch or bring your date and sit at the bar on a school night. Your parents will love it, too. It really is a place for everyone."
We're ready.
La Salut is located at 305 Cleveland Street, Redfern and will opening in spring 2021 (but not until after 11 October so watch this space).
Top image: Trent van der Jagt