It's taken almost four years for brothers-in-law Vince Sofo and Paul Adamo to finish work on 127 Brunswick St, their new multi-purpose venue. Granted, the drab interior and Victorian facade of the Old Colonial Inn that they took over needed a lot of work. The finished product is a combination of three separate and independently run businesses across five storeys, the casual izakaya Ichi Ni Nana on the ground floor, Village People Hawker Foodhall on the first level, and the Upside Rooftop Bar on the top floor, which features DJ booths and views across neighbouring Carlton.
"We wanted to inject some new life into the other end of Brunswick Street and we always knew that we'd the work ourselves, without taking on an architecture firm," Sofo says. "It's been a hard slog, but doing the fit-out and decor ourselves was worth it in the end."
Ichi Ni Nana is spread across two floors, taking over the Old Colonial Inn's former keg room, and service begins at breakfast until the wee hours on weekends. The courtyard area (featuring a retractable sunroof) hosts a sushi station, while the street-facing Ichi Ni Nana Street Stall doles out coffee and sushi rolls to on-the-go customers.
Ichi Ni Nana Sun-Thu 7am-late; Fri-Sat 7am-3am
Village People Hawker Foodhall Mon-Thu 5pm-11pm; Fri-Sat Noon-3am; Sun Noon-11pm
Upside Rooftop Bar Mon-Fri 5pm-late; Sat-Sun Noon-late