After spending years as a bar manager at Mechanics Institute, then co-founding ground-breaking not-for-profit Mix Haus, Pippa Canavan’s career has gone from strength to strength. Last month she opened Bar Love alongside fellow Mechanics Institute alum Murray Walsh. With a retro ‘70s interior complete with plenty of pink and orange, knick-knacks and gold lettering – plus drinks that mix-and-match modern trends like Mont Blanc coffees with throwback tipples like melon liqueur – Bar Love is one of the year’s most exciting new openings.

When she’s not behind the bar, Canavan is hitting up listening bars, ordering a fancy bottle of vino at her local and ordering Thai so spicy that it’ll clear your mind of anything that troubles you.

What is your favourite drink at Bar Love and why?
The Melon Baller. It’s made with Midori, dry vermouth, honeydew, eucalyptus and lemon. I love it because it’s a silly blended little disco drink.

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What’s your go-to if you want a quick takeaway dinner?
Longlae Thai is amazing. They don’t dull down the spice for the Western palate and I love it.

What about lunch on the go?
Authentic Bites Dumplings House. It’s quick, simple, and you get them delivered by a robot waiter. The future is now!

What’s your favourite snack in your city?
In Good Hands in Mount Hawthorne does the most delicious roasted cherry tomato and stracciatella baguette. I’ve tried to re-create it at home multiple times but it’s never quite the same.

Where’s the ideal spot for a first date?
Astral Weeks. The atmosphere is perfect, the wine is delicious, and you can get a beautiful meal in the hidden French restaurant Ah Um which is run by Jae Woods, who will charm your socks off.

If it’s a special occasion, where are you booking? What are you ordering?
We’re going to Le Rebelle and ordering the crab toast, and a bottle of something fancy from the secret wine menu – Sarah Atkinson always has the goods.

Where can you find the best coffee?
March Coffee Studio in the city is doing some of the most considered caffeine this city has ever seen.

Do you have a go-to for a long lunch? What are you ordering?
Il Lido in Cottesloe, I’m ordering whatever seafood pasta is on the menu, and I’m going for a swim at the beach afterwards.

How about a meal with a big group of family or friends?
Il Falco in Mount Hawthorne is absolutely perfect for a big group, particularly if you sit outside on a Sunday afternoon.

What’s your bucket-list bar?
It’s a toss-up between Cry Baby in Adelaide (if you want to dance on tables) or Rosella’s on the Gold Coast for some of the best drinks I’ve had in a very cosy and nostalgic setting.

If you’re after something sweet, where are you heading and what are you getting?
I’m going to Cuccini Gelato and having two scoops of saffron pistachio gelato.

Is there a hidden gem that you think is great?
Fu Lu Shou next to Uncle Billy’s is one of my favourite bars in Perth. That’s down to the absolutely lovely Alex and Ryan, who is always using his chemical engineering degree to make some weird and wonderful beverage (you have to ask him about it though, because he is shy).

Tell us about a local producer you can’t stop thinking about.
The House of Honey in the Swan Valley has the most amazing selection of honey and honey-based goods. The watermelon honey blew my mind.

What’s your favourite spot for a late-night feed?
Alfred’s Pizzeria on Barrack Street will always tempt me.

What’s your go-to hangover meal?
The chicken larb from Long Chim, it’s so spicy you’ll forget all about your headache.

Where’s your favourite bottle shop?
Besk in West Leederville. It’s the best wine selection in Perth.

What’s your favourite wine bar and what are you ordering there?
It’s not technically a wine bar but a bottle of some weird northern Italian orange always goes down a treat in the courtyard of Si Paradiso.

What’s your favourite cocktail and where do you go to get it?
A Tommy’s Margarita from Mechanics Institute, specifically made by KD Adams.

@pipcanavan
@barlovebar
@mixhaus.au