After 19 years as the nucleus of a community and an exemplar of Melbourne neighbourhood bar culture, Gerald’s Bar’s tenure at 386 Rathdowne Street is coming to an end. But it’s good news – the business isn’t closing, it’s expanding. Founder (and MFWF Legend) Gerald Diffey and his partner, Mario Di Ienno, have snagged the lease on a grand Carlton North hospitality landmark, and plan to move Gerald’s Bar to 920 Lygon Street, aka the former premises of famed Italian providore Enoteca Sileno, later this year.
The Lygon Street building, which was originally The Rising Sun Hotel (sacred ground for old-school Carlton fans) is considerably larger than the current site, and is kitted out with a full restaurant kitchen, which points to a potentially expanded food offering – upstairs, perhaps – for the new Gerald’s.
Opening in 2006, Gerald’s steadily won over the bar lovers of Australia with a distinctive mix of great wine, engaging service, very personal decor, quality snacks and exceptional vinyl. It’s a playbook that has since been often imitated but never bested, and the bar’s effect on its immediate neighbourhood has been transformative.
Diffey’s form in Melbourne hospitality is substantial to say the least, and together he and Di Ienno also created Brooks, the restaurant they opened in the CBD in 2012, and a second branch of Gerald’s in the Basque city of San Sebastian in 2014. Gerald’s was named the best bar in Australia by Gourmet Traveller magazine in 2010, among many other accolades, and in 2021 Diffey published a memoir, Beggars Belief, filled with stories of the bar.
The official word from Di Ienno and Diffey on the timing for the move is no more specific for the moment than “spring”, but if you’d like to savour the original location’s very specific charms, now’s the time to do it.
Gerald’s Bar, 386 Rathdowne St, Carlton North, geraldsbar.com.au
By Pat Nourse