It's been an interesting journey for the Commune Group, the restaurant collective has been responsible for some of the most successful and popular restaurant openings over the past few years.
What started with the small shop fronted Hanoi Hannah has now evolved into a dining cartel with venues such as Tokyo Tina, New Quarter, Firebird, Moonhouse, and Hanoi Hannah on the cards and the seventh set to open its doors just next week.
Studio Amaro is the latest opening from the Commune team, a multi-level venue with a restaurant and a downstairs listening bar on a corner of Chapel Street. The first deviation from their traditionally Asian-leaning restaurants, Studio Amaro is a bold new venture for the group.
"I think we didn't want Commune to ever be pigeonholed by cuisine or by region or by geographical location, we wanted to really explore what Melbourne is, what makes Melbourne good, and that's multiculturalism," says Commune creative director, Simon Blacher.
Paying homage to the legacy of Italian restaurants that have served Melbourne for decades, Studio Amaro is looking to channel familiar flavours with a relatively concise menu of treasured dishes from regions all across the boot-shaped nation, with head chef Daniel Migliaccio at the helm.
The classics take on a contemporary spin from snacks like fried mozzarella with basil and anchovy to slices of their sourdough focaccia with whipped ricotta and lemon.
Select pasta dishes harness the smokey flavours of the grill from the thick-cut rigatoni with a spicy arrabbiata sauce of wood-fired chilli and stracciatella to the more substantial veal cotoletta or 1kg t-bone steak with an averna amaro-infused pink peppercorn sauce.
With a moniker derived straight from behind the bar, Studio Amaro is named after the popular digestivo liqueur, Amaro, which varies from area to area but is typically a bittersweet blend of aromatics and herbs (similar to that of a Campari or Chinotto) that's drunk in Italy post-meal to aid in digestion.
"I love Amaro for its story, its history and its flavour profiles, the fact that it's like bittersweet at the same time, I don't wanna sound like a fucking idiot, but I feel like that's like a reflection of life," Blacher recounts.
Exploring the niche alcohol extensively, the team has nailed down a 40-bottle-plus list with different blends from all over Italy and they've imbued this fragrant mixture into a range of their cocktails from the signature Nero Spritz which is a blend of two types of Amaro, a splash of aged balsamic, prosecco and soda water.
A completely new build, the forward-looking design of the exterior is a curved blend of concrete and glass. Walking in, make your way through the dining room and head directly down into the basement of Amaro past the curtains where you'll be met with the late-night listening bar—a speakeasy-esque space with clear nods to Italy through the sconce lights, long tiled bar and plush couch booth tables.
"I think they'll flow together, there's a nice, journey between upstairs and downstairs, the whole ethos was to have this kind of interactive venue that could fly up and down."
Always part of the plan, the listening bar aspect of Studio Amaro was something that the team had long hoped to achieve with the new venue, wanting to establish a place where the food the drinks and the music all hummed in symphony.
"I didn't want one of one of 'em outweighing each other—and I hope that's what we've created."
The musical identity of Studio Amaro will very much lean into its Italian spirit, channelling a slew of Italo-disco and lounge tracks from the late seventies and early 80s. They even launched Radio Amaro, a Soundcloud account where you can get a taste of the type of audio selections that will encompass the space.
Studio Amaro is set to open this Friday 1 September, book in over here.
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Image credit: Studio Amaro (supplied)