Celebrating two decades of big flavours in a small bar, and a more-is-more approach to both decorating and hospitality.
It’s been 20 years since chef Matt McConnell and his partner Jo Gamvros opened Bar Lourinhã, and in that time it has become an indelible part of the city’s culinary landscape, a beacon to visitors, a boon to locals, a proud torchbearer of the style we like to call Melbourne.
It’s different things to different people, open day and night across the whole week. Our Lourinha might not be your Lourinha, but we love it alike. Here’s 20 reasons you might like to give it a try, if you haven’t already, or 20 reasons to get back to that place you so enjoy.
- Bar Lourinhã was a laneway dining pioneer, one of the venues that anchored what is now one of the most Melbourne blocks of the CBD, and a big champion of the eat-at-the-bar culture that came with that moment.
- The yellowtail kingfish pancetta tostada: not just a signature for Lourinhã, a signature for Victoria. The way the lightly cured fish contrasts with the snap of the tostada when you bite into it is pure delight, every single time.
- Spiced chickpeas and spinach: four humble words, one sensational dish that is very much more than the sum of its parts. Matt and Jo ate the version that inspired them in Seville, their version inspires us every time we’re in.
- Sherry. We like ours made in Victoria, but however you get it, it’s a good time.
- BYO Mondays: day and night. What better way to start the week?
- Paella Sundays: what better way to finish it in style?
- One early favourite dish was chouriço à bombeiro. That’s Portuguese for “fireman’s chouriço” (or chorizo), which McConnell used to serve on fire at the table.
- The book is great. Eat at the Bar is full of approachable and thoroughly delicious food you really can make at home.
- Live Latin music! Last Sunday of every month. Give your clapping hands the workout they deserve.
- Those jamon croquetas. Ooft. You can get them now from Boccaccio Cellars, McCoppins, Alimentari and a handful of other discerning retailers, but there is much to be said for enjoying them in their natural environs.
- Three courses for $40 at lunch? What?! It’s called the Lunch Rapido, and it’s the real thing, seven days a week.
- The tilde. That’s the wiggly line over the a in “Lourinhã”. Are we sure how to pronounce it properly? Kinda (we say “loo-rin-ya”). It’s a region in Portugal, if you were wondering.
- Duck rice. Duck yeah.
- The upstairs room is a party waiting to happen. If you’re searching for a space that’ll seat you and 50 of your best friends for a great time in the CBD, look no further.
- Morcilla and ox tongue pintxos: texture, flavour and delight on a stick.
- Lourinhã ginjinha: any visitor to Lisbon is likely to have fallen in love with the city’s classic ginjinha bars, which open to serve Lisboetas a nip of the liqueur they make with sour cherries. You don’t see a lot of ginjinha this side of Portugal (in fact, you don’t see any) – team Lourinha making its own is another example of them committing to the bit.
- The insane objets trouvés décor. “A lot of the found objects are from all over the world,” says Gamvros. “See the rifle? That’s a vodka bottle, from Russia. The witch at the end with the broom is from the Basque country. The stuff that was originally in there was hallucinogenic. It’s not in there anymore because we drank it all and we gave a lot of it away to customers just to see how they reacted. It was sort of like an amaro but it had that kind of absinthe effect. It was quite intense. You didn’t need a lot.”
- Blanca’s alfajores: gracias Blanca.
- The rincon sign. It was the first thing to go up on the walls when Gamvros and McConnell took over the site, and Gamvros says it’s the key to the whole aesthetic. “I found that in Brunswick at a second-hand dealer shop and said, ‘That’s a great way to begin’. We built it [the collection] around that. If you see early photos of Bar Lourinhã, there’s not much on the wall at all.
- These guys know how to throw a party – famously so. And now they’re celebrating this incredible milestone with a calendar packed with great reasons to join them. We’re talking classic dishes revisited, we’re talking croqueta e chorizo parties, and we’re talking plenty of salsa between now and the end of the year.
Bar Lourinhã is turning 20, and to celebrate, it’s rolling out a year-long anniversary program, from long-table dinners revisiting two decades of signature dishes to producer collaborations, aperitivo retrospectives, throwback menu features, and the release of its cookbook, Lourinhã.
Bar Lourinhã, 37 Little Collins St, Melbourne, barlourinha.com.au, @bar_lourinha