Discover a different way to buy your wine

Just about every wine store in the world offers a similar format: a section for chardonnay, another section for shiraz, a different section for imports. 

New Melbourne store Drop Shop, which opens its doors today, is doing things differently. 

Drop Shop is challenging decades of liquor retail convention with a simple idea: most people don’t buy wines by grape variety or region - they buy by occasion and budget.

Founded by Pinot Palooza creator and Wine Victoria chair Dan Sims, drinks retail specialist Courtney Keegan and Common State founder Luke McKinnon, the new concept aims to replace overwhelming choice with a tightly curated range organised into three intuitive categories:

Choose from: 

* Weekday from $15 to $25
* Party from $25 to $40
* Fancy from $40+

“We want to create a new category,” says McKinnon, ex Dan Murphy's and Blackheart and Sparrows. 

"We've gone for an occasion-based liquor format that strips out the clutter and speaks directly to the individual who’s tired of choosing between a warehouse and a wine lecture.

”With this guiding logic, the offer is deliberately simple. Wines are presented in three distinct categories with Victorian and rising producers front and centre."

The same equation applies across wine, beer, RTDs, spirits, as well as non-alcoholic options. 

The 60sqm store is designed by We Are Humble and inspired by Japanese konbini culture. 

Drop Shop is described as a convenience store for drinks that’s designed like Aesop, run like 7-Eleven, and organised to take the guesswork out of buying booze. 

“Most retailers would probably describe themselves as highly curated,” Sims says. "But the average bottle shop stocks more than 1000 wines. At Drop Shop, we literally only have room for 150, so everything has to really earn its spot on the shelf. Think of each category as its own shortlist. The idea isn’t to limit choice - it’s to make choosing easier."

Drop Shop is at 70 Lygon Street (corner of St Phillip Street), Brunswick East, 3057. Opening hours:
Monday to Thursday: 11am-9pm, Friday and Saturday: 11am-10pm, Sunday: 11am-8pm.

See www.dropshopdrinks.com

Bronte gets a new dining experience

Restaurateur Alex Cameron is helping transform Sydney beach suburb Bronte into a new gourmet hotspot. 

Fishnets, the second Bronte venue from Cameron’s Overwhelming Hospitality group, opens this week, building on the success of European-inspired Table Manners. 

“Fishnets is grounded in Japanese technique, but designed to be shared and enjoyed in a relaxed neighbourhood setting,” Cameron says. 

“It sits between the precision of fine dining Japanese restaurants and the ease of a local haunt. 

"I’m proud to be bringing another venue to Bronte and the surrounding area, and to show a different side of what we can do. There’s a growing community of venues here, and we’re hoping people start to see Bronte as a destination for dining.”

The menu is craftedby former Sokyo omakase chef Sanghyeop Kim in collaboration with group executive chef Luke Churchill, and centres on "a refined but approachable take on Japanese dining" with a strong sushi offering. 

Think a seasonal sashimi platter dressed four ways; a nigiri selection; and larger plates like Murray cod with turnip and roast chicken dashi, and a 500g tuna katsu with cabbage and Japanese demi-glace, or maybe pippies with yuzu kosho beurre blanc. 

“At Fishnets, we’re taking the precision of omakase and translating it into something more relaxed and shareable," says chef Kim. 

"It’s still about quality and technique, but in a way that feels approachable. I’m particularly excited for people to try our nigiri menu; this is where top-tier produce really comes to the forefront. 

"It’s about the balance of the rice, the temperature, and the quality of the fish. It looks simple, but it relies on precision.”

The drinks program at Fishnets has been designed to complement the menu’s precision and approachability, with a strong Japanese influence throughout. 

Fishnets will be open for dinner Wednesday to Sunday, with lunch over the weekend. Bookings are available via fish-nets.com.au.

New whisky concept inspired by Sir Kenny Dalglish

Former Liverpool and Scotland striker Kenny Dalglish is the inspiration for a new whisky concept.

Distilllers Gordon & MacPhail have partnered with Sir Kenny for the inaugural release of a a venture called Vintage Moments.

The Elgin-based whisky producer will release the first collection in October 2026, with just 15 of Dalglish’s Vintage Moments by Gordon & MacPhail Whiskies box sets available to purchase.

The new initiative centres on creating bespoke collections of five ultra-rare single malt Scotch whiskies distilled in years that correspond with significant moments in an individual’s life, the drinks business reports.

Gordon & MacPhail said a small number of private clients will be given the opportunity each year to sample single malts and select five whiskies linked to pivotal years in their own personal histories.

Each whisky will hand-drawn from cask and bottled at cask strength, with Gordon & MacPhail describing each bottling as “the only expression of each particular single malt that will ever exist”.

To launch the concept, Gordon & MacPhail worked with Dalglish to curate five rare single malt Scotch whiskies distilled in years linked to landmark moments in his life.

Dalglish, who was born in 1951, is regarded as one of the greatest strikers in post-war British football and remains one of Celtic’s, Liverpool’s and Scotland’s most admired figures.

Image: Sir Kenny Dalglish, Gordon & MacPhail

Out of the black and into the pasta

Hugely experienced Irish-born chef Peter Roddy has launched a new dining concept, Pastarami, at the former Noir Restaurant site in Melbourne.

Roddy has worked at Gordon Ramsey’s Amarylliss in Glasgow and Michel Roux Jr’s Le Gavroche in London, and also done a stint in New Zealand.

Roddy - along with partner Ebony Vagg and former Noir head chef Jonno Phillips - is looking for a "simpler, brighter and lighter" vibe at Pastarami after closing Richmond favourite Noir in March.

The spotlight will be on freshly made pasta crafted daily by Roddy and Phillips using an imported Italian pasta machine.

Sauces are made on-site and can take up to two days to prepare.

With a move away from all black, the venue has been renovated with the fit-out (below) designed by Brandworks.

Menu highlights include snacks such as crostini with miso tuna or Calabrian anchovy, ricotta and dill.

Small plates will feature beef carpaccio, capers, lemon and Parmesan, and stracciatella, pumpkin panzanella and kale pesto.

In addition to pasta dishes priced from $20-26, main attractions include the confit duck with cavatelli, smoked cinnamon and mushroom.

Diners can opt for a la carte (with a recommendation to share three pastas between two people), or the the Chef's Choice Pastarami Party which includes six shared plates including focaccia, snacks, two pasta and a salad for $49 a head.

Roddy has put together the wine list himself and cocktails are also set to star.

Pastarami is at 175 Swan Street, Richmond. www.pastarami.com.au.