Bottle shop P&V calls last drinks in Paddington, hatted Porcine expands
The French tech-focused restaurant will introduce more “knife and fork dining” to its side wine bar.
Hatted Paddington restaurant Porcine will take full control of L’Avant Cave wine bar in Paddington from January, and P&V Wine + Liquor Merchants, with whom it shares the building and courtyard bar, will withdraw from the suburb at the end of the year.
“We’re drinking the last of Oxford Street,” says P&V co-owner Mike Bennie. “This is not one of those doom and gloom stories. After five years our lease is up and we want to focus again on the Newtown store.”
For the last five years, Porcine has been serving French dishes with a focus on technique rather than P&V. Bennie says the two businesses have a great relationship as upstairs and downstairs tenants, and the decision earlier this year to entrust the food from P&V’s lush courtyard bar to Porcine will ensure a smoother transition for regulars.
“We’re getting off the couch and into the bedroom,” Porcine chef and co-owner Nicholas Hill joked when the collaboration between the businesses was announced in March. What to expect at one of Sydney’s best wine bars as P&V moves to Porcine flying solo?
Porcine’s co-owner Matt Fitzgerald said they will remove the big wall refrigerator and install a banquette in time for L’Avant Cave’s reopening in mid-January, following the last maintenance under P&V supervision on Dec. 31. The bottle shop, where P&V is a strong suit, will be turned around under the new operator.
“We have a license, so we still [buy takeaway wine] At L’Avant Cave,” says Fitzgerald. A grab bar for diners at Porcine restaurants will be added to the space and there will be a change in food presentation.
“There will be some more knives and forks [food]“We’re still going to keep the fun vibe,” says Fitzgerald.
Porcine has been on the awards list lately. Hill is in Paris this week to receive the Next Generation Discovery Award from La Liste, a respected French-based global restaurant guide. Won the high pressure in May Bocuse d’Or’s Australian tourIt is often referred to as the Olympics of the cooking world.
Bennie says he is proud of P&V’s five years on Oxford Street, seeing the wine bar’s former head chefs move to high-profile restaurants, as well as overcoming the challenge of launching during COVID.
He is looking forward to celebrating the last month of his bottle shop in Paddington. “This is our last chance to capture the different P&V vibe, the unique personality we bring to the venue before the change.”
