Elk Room

While The Everleigh fast became one of Fitzroy’s favourite cocktail bars when it opened in 2011, with its sophisticated menu, impeccable service and refined space, the team bring us Elk Room, The Everleigh’s younger and perhaps more laidback brother bar next door.

For owner and manager Michael Madrusan, the room, which had been used briefly as an art space, always had a singular identity of its own.

It’s here that Madrusan’s growing collection of taxidermy deer heads, portraits of English war gentry and leather smoking lounges have found a home.

While Madrusan admits that he loves the elegance and frivolity of The Everleigh, Elk Room is something else completely. “I wanted it to be darker, quieter, to have a bit more grit and be closer to an officer’s room.”

And while the two bars share the same impeccable drinks menu (Daisies, Fixes, Fizzes, Old Fashioneds, Sours and Sazeracs) and service, the personalities and atmospheres are very much their own.

Come the weekends (they’re only open Friday and Saturday nights), at Elk Room you’ll find small groups and couples tucking themselves into dark corners to drink by candlelight.