Bar Gabi, a new two-level venue from the team behind Navi, is set to open in Yarraville this October with charcoal cooking, Australian-focused drinks and a more relaxed approach to dining.
Yarraville is getting a new neighbourhood bar and restaurant this October, with the team behind Navi set to open Bar Gabi on Anderson Street.
The new venue is a collaboration between Navi’s Julian Hills and Georgia Roberts, Navi Beverage Manager Miriam Wahlhütter and her partner, chef Paul Turner, who will head up the kitchen. The idea is to take some of the thinking and attention to detail behind Navi and put it into something a little more casual.
Bar Gabi will be centred around charcoal cooking, with the name itself inspired by Gabija, the Baltic spirit of fire and protector of hearth and home, as well as Miriam’s grandmother, Gabi. It’s a fitting concept for a venue built around food, drinks and the kind of atmosphere where people can settle in for a few hours.
The menu will feature dishes including native lemongrass chicken, beef tongue with saltbush, kangaroo sausage with salted egg yolk and betel leaf, and grilled brie with pepperberry honey. The approach is still rooted in the philosophy of Navi, but the new venue is intended to be more approachable and relaxed.
“I wanted to do something a little more casual,” says chef and co-owner Julian Hills. “We’re following the same philosophy of food that we have at Navi, savoury, textural, minimal waste, but making it more approachable for everyone.”
The drinks list follows the same fire and Australian produce theme, with cocktails including a toasted wattleseed and macadamia whisky sour, a rum, blood orange and rhubarb drink finished with blowtorched miso caramel foam, and a paperbark-smoked take on a tequila sunrise. There will also be a selection of nostalgic liqueurs and digestifs, alongside a concise Australian-leaning wine list.
Spread across two levels, Bar Gabi will seat 60 people and is designed to work slightly differently depending on the day. The upstairs space could host a book club over snacks and drinks on a Tuesday, while weekends might move from long lunches and shared plates into dinners, celebrations and events.
The fit-out has been designed by Julian’s brother Damon of Finnis Architects, with a 70s-inspired feel, cosy banquette seating and different spaces to settle into. Ceramic Interiors from Robert Gordon and custom crockery will add to the more homely feel.
After three years in the making, Bar Gabi is set to open at 21 Anderson Street, Yarraville, in October.
It’s a pretty natural fit for Yarraville, particularly as the village continues to develop its food and drink scene, and gives the team behind Navi a chance to loosen things up a little without losing the quality that made the original venue stand out.
