Bar 1854 was born from a dream.
“I was watching the movie Bedknobs and Broomsticks before I had this dream [of a venue upstairs from The Cremorne],” venue manager Grace Kelliher tells Broadsheet. “I love this movie; [there’s a scene where] cartoon figures and real-life people are having a party.”
With that scene running through her mind – and a fairly niche love for wallpaper, inspired by a visit to Marco Pierre White’s The Pear Tree restaurant in London – Kelliher woke up with an “image in my head of a wild little dark, dingy party place. It felt like we were missing somewhere with that feel in Adelaide.”
Kelliher pitched her vision to her bosses at the Duxton Pubs group (which, along with The Cremorne, owns venues including The Lion and Little Bang Brewery).
Today, her dream became a reality as the function space above The Cremorne opens as 30-seat cocktail den, Bar 1854.
After passing through a set of lush velvet curtains, guests move past walls plastered with early-20th-century comics that Kelliher found years ago in Port Elliot. “I always knew I would find use for them someday,” she says.
The group’s interior designer Zoe Hilton turned the very specific dream into a reality with
Alice in Wonderland wallpaper by London’s House of Hackney and artworks from Australian sculptor Tan Arlidge and French artist Guillaume Chiron. The fit-out sets the tone for a moody yet fanciful experience.
The drinks menu is equally considered, with a range of local and international wines and curated cocktails. Highlights include the olive oil fat-washed freezer door Martini, a build-your-own Margarita, matcha-infused vodkas, and a Martini trolley, which is wheeled to the side of each table so you can oversee how you’d like your drink: shaken or stirred, wet or dry.
“Some people do dessert trolleys, Fishbank do it with caviar, why not do it with a Martini?”
For whisky lovers, the extensive collection includes Japanese and Mexican whisky, Scotch, US bourbon, and local offerings from SA’s Cut Hill and Tasmania’s Lark Distillery. A glass of the hard stuff pairs perfectly with Bar 1854’s range of Cuban cigars – including Winston Churchill’s Romeo & Julietta – which can be enjoyed on the bar’s balcony.
To eat there’s a series of small plates including karaage chicken, kingfish sashimi, sake-infused olives, and a hearty kimchi and brie toastie. Desserts lean boozy with affogatos and classic French rum babas – the spirit-soaked vanilla cake that’s the subject of one Broadsheet editor’s obsession.
When it comes to how people use the space, Kelliher isn’t greedy. She’s happy for people to pop in for a drink, head out for dinner, or scurry in for a late-night snack or dessert to cap off the night before going home to sleep – and, hopefully, having some similarly life-altering dreams.
Bar 1854
Level 1, 207 Unley Road, Unley
(08)8272 9746
Hours:
Thu to Sat 4.30pm–1am
