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Summer’s balmy alfresco evenings might be wrapping up, but Melbourne is about to welcome a very special new bar designed to make your garden drinking dreams come true. Hiding in a heritage-listed 1885 building in the CBD (above 7 Alfred), the 21-seat cocktail bar is designed to feel like a moody Victorian-era drinking den with an enchanted garden ethos. If you're not quite sure what that will look like in practice, read on.
Brought to life by Hunter St Hospitality (whose other venues include Spice Temple, Rockpool and 7 Alfred – to name a few), Bar Ferdinand is led by beverage director Ali Toghani and bar manager Greg Thompson (whose résumé includes heavy-hitters like Gimlet and Dinner by Heston). Together, they’ve created a cocktail menu that reads more like a map of the Botanic Gardens than a drinks list.
Each section – Rose, Fern, Camellia, Eucalypt, Oak Lawn, Arid and Herb & Medicinal – acts as its own ecosystem, with drinks designed to capture a feeling rather than just a flavour. Think less literal infusions, more sensory storytelling. A Fern cocktail, for example, channels the cool, earthy energy of a rain-soaked fernery, while Eucalypt leans into those unmistakable Aussie bush notes with eucalyptus soda and nashi pear wine.
Two house signatures sit outside the garden path (pardon the pun): a crisp, apple-mint-laced Martini and a playful rework of the Japanese Slipper – a nostalgic nod to the building that the bar calls home, where the neon-green original was first created back in the ’80s.
According to the team, we can expect the interiors to echo the concept without going overboard. Design features include herringbone floors, burgundy leather lounges, marble-topped tables and brass finishes – softened by dried floral installations and pockets of greenery.
Continuing the garden vibes, the food offering is pitched as a “polished picnic hamper” – a tight edit of perfect drinking snacks like oysters, wagyu pot pie, anchovies with lemon and a proper German pretzel with salted butter.
With room for just 21 guests (plus a little spillover seating), Bar Ferdinand feels destined to become one of those CBD gems you'd duck into for one special drink, and resurface hours later wondering how you stumbled upon an enchanted garden in the sky.
Doors open on April 22. You can reserve a table over here.