Night Moves

The Mayfair brings an air of retro-bistro chic and the food to match to Melbourne’s late-night dining scene.

- Michael Harden

Has there ever been a better time to be a hungry Melbourne night owl? Things were good before, but recent additions Arlechin, the Grossi family’s handsome laneway bar, and Butchers Diner, Con Christopoulos’s 24-hour burger and breakfast joint, have made late-night dining a more appealing option than ever. Now serial restaurateur David Mackintosh and cocktail maestro Joe Jones have opened The Mayfair, bringing a wonky Stork Club impersonation and a carte of don’t-make-mechoose bistro classics to the mix.

The Mayfair has taken over the Sofitel driveway space formerly occupied by Pei Modern, turning it into a squeaky-clean 1950s stage-set version of a 1930s jazz club, replete with enthusiastic, formally attired waitstaff. The carpeted dining room has semicircular leather booths down one wall, linen-dressed tables, potted palms and assorted brass and etched-glass light fittings that keep the décor on theme. The soundtrack, at least in the early evening, also matches the mood.

Mackintosh, whose recent credits include SPQR, Lee Ho Fook and Rosa’s Canteen, pays attention to atmosphere. There’s a hint of Lynchian theatricality here that’s at its most noticeable in the bar area, amid the round marble tables and gorgeously lit display of good booze in cut-glass decanters.