Gimlet’s new cocktail bar offshoot has a name and an opening date

The Apollo Inn will soon be on the lips of Melbourne’s keenest diners: it’s the name of Andrew McConnell’s latest project, a petite cocktail bar that he first announced in November and which will open on June 13 in the CBD.

Located just 50 metres from McConnell’s hugely successful restaurant, Gimlet at Cavendish House, The Apollo Inn was conceived as a younger sibling to that much grander restaurant, borrowing the same Euro DNA and attention to detail, but shrinking them down to pocket-rocket proportions.

When the Trader House team announced the new bar, situated at 165 Flinders Lane, the plan was for 28 guests to be able to stop by for oysters, top-shelf jamon and other simple drinking food.

While menus and other specifics are not yet available, details and bookings will be released on Thursday, June 8. The bar will open daily until 1am.

The name of the bar is a reference to a public house that once stood where Gimlet is now, on the corner of Russell Street and Flinders Lane, and where John Batman, founder of Melbourne, reportedly used to drink.

Gimlet’s designers, ACME, have also worked on the interiors of this venue.

Ground floor, 165 Flinders Lane, Melbourne, apolloinn.bar