The Italian-Inspired Bars to Visit in Australia in 2024 (And Beyond)

Italian-style drinks, aesthetics and service — not to mention Italians themselves — are a driving force behind the world’s best bars.

Article by Fred Siggins

At Bar Olo, the operators see themselves as part of a venerable tradition of Italian hospitality, prizing human connection. Photograph courtesy of Bar Olo.

It’s not often that a bar can make you feel sexy. I’m not talking about the kind of self-conscious, “look at me on a rooftop with all the shiny people” sexy, either. I’m talking about the kind of Tony Soprano sexy that has nothing to do with how you look and everything to do with attitude. That’s how Bar Olo makes you feel.

A new venture from the team behind the outstanding Italian restaurant Scopri in Melbourne’s Carlton neighbourhood — an area long associated with Mediterranean hospitality — Bar Olo is in many ways the perfect bar. It both speaks to something specifically Melbourne in the mould of longstanding favourites such as Geralds Bar, Bellota and Supper Club, and also expresses something universal about how the world wants to drink in 2024. Fun but accessible cocktails. Service that’s warm and welcoming while still professional and attentive. A cracking wine list. A flexible food offering. And, above all, a sense of comfort and calm, with a good dose of nostalgia. In a word: Italian.

I was recently in Hong Kong for the Asia’s 50 Best Bars awards, basically the Oscars for the entire bar community of the world’s most populous continent. Taking out the hotly contested number-one spot on the list was Bar Leone, a place birthed from the nostalgic daydreams of its co-founder Lorenzo Antinori. The walls at Leone are adorned with 1970s Italian movie posters and photos of random Italian anchormen from the ’80s. Drinks including negronis and olive oil sours are served in simple glassware next to mortadella sandwiches. It’s not the kind of place you expect to find in the bustling, tropical, Asian metropolis of Hong Kong, where high-concept bars have long reigned, but locals and visitors alike adore this unassuming watering hole.

Melbourne’s Bar Olo
Vitello tonnato at Melbourne’s Bar Olo, a bar drenched in Italian nostalgia but just right for now. Photograph courtesy of Bar Olo.

The love for Bar Leone is not a unique phenomenon. Venues such as Dante in New York City (named world’s number one bar in 2019), Bar Termini (Time Out London’s Bar of the Year in 2017), and Maybe Sammy in Sydney (currently ranked number 15 globally) are among the world’s most respected drinking establishments, and all are rooted in a specifically Italian style of hospitality. From Hobart to Hyderabad, Italian drinking culture, and the bartenders who bring it to the world, are as relevant today as they ever have been.

“To me, it’s the idea of comfort and community,” Antinori says. “The Italian style of drinking and hospitality is really founded on simplicity. Simple serves, simple food, but always with a communal element that makes it special. That beautiful simplicity makes people feel comfortable, but it’s still surprising, because when something simple is executed well, that’s where the magic starts.”

The idea of comfort is so key to what Antinori does that he sees it as the highest ideal, more so than great drinks or a cool vibe. “The biggest compliment I can get is that Bar Leone feels so homey, so comfortable,” he says. He achieves that, he says, by

Italian Bar Bar Leone
A white Russian at Bar Leone, a slice of Italian life in Hong Kong. Photograph courtesy of Bar Leone.

The love for Bar Leone is not a unique phenomenon. Venues such as Dante in New York City (named world’s number one bar in 2019), Bar Termini (Time Out London’s Bar of the Year in 2017), and Maybe Sammy in Sydney (currently ranked number 15 globally) are among the world’s most respected drinking establishments, and all are rooted in a specifically Italian style of hospitality. From Hobart to Hyderabad, Italian drinking culture, and the bartenders who bring it to the world, are as relevant today as they ever have been.

“To me, it’s the idea of comfort and community,” Antinori says. “The Italian style of drinking and hospitality is really founded on simplicity. Simple serves, simple food, but always with a communal element that makes it special. That beautiful simplicity makes people feel comfortable, but it’s still surprising, because when something simple is executed well, that’s where the magic starts.”

The idea of comfort is so key to what Antinori does that he sees it as the highest ideal, more so than great drinks or a cool vibe. “The biggest compliment I can get is that Bar Leone feels so homey, so comfortable,” he says. He achieves that, he says, by finding genuine connection with every guest. “It’s all about trying to anticipate guests’ needs, which means being comfortable establishing a dialogue,” he says. “Asking questions and paying attention to the details of the answers. Being attentive and being genuine. In the end, it has to come from our hearts, because we’re creating a connection with another human.”

Asked why Italian-style hospitality has been so influential the world over, Antinori speaks to the long history of Italians abroad. “Italians are not the only great hosts in the world — it’s not just about nationality — but we do have a long history in the trade,” he says. “Our great-grandparents left home and went around the world opening restaurants and bars. But it’s also part of our nature to be hospitable. Food and drink are really important to us as a culture.”

Back in Melbourne, at Bar Olo, I’m squeezed into a seat at the packed bar, shovelling a plate of handmade spoja lorda pasta with an exquisitely savoury duck and porcini ragu into my face with gusto, pausing only to try to gulp down my delicious cocktail because I know they’re going to have a red for me that will go beautifully with the duck. And of course they do. Owner Anthony Scutella is behind the bar and appears before me the instant the last drops of cocktail hit my lips. He already knows what I’m going to ask for, and with a nod brings me that perfect glass of cool-climate Italian red wine.

Scutella has been running the fine-dining Italian institution Scopri, just up the road from Bar Olo, for many years, but says the dining landscape has changed post-Covid, inspiring the team to open this more casual bar space. “It’s not so much about going out for a full meal at one place anymore,” he says. “It’s more about moving around and snacking, having a drink and a bite at a few different venues. People were always asking us, ‘Where can we go for a drink?’ So we’re providing that experience now with Bar Olo, but trying to make it really special.”

This style of Italian-inspired bar is working well in 2024, Scutella thinks, in part because of global drinking and dining trends. “That northern part of Italy is pretty hot right now,” he says. “Vermouth, aperitifs, people are really getting into all that, too. And the way Italians dine — minimal, no fuss but high-quality. I call it low intervention. I like to go to casual places, get a vitello tonnato, smash a wine and I’m happy. That less-fuss approach but with perfect execution and great service is having a moment worldwide.”

Italian-style service just seems to resonate. “It’s not about us,” Scutella says. “You’re coming into our home, we want to make you feel as welcome as possible. Especially in a business climate that’s challenging right now, we have to make that effort to get people to want to come back.”

If the lines at places like Bar Olo and Bar Leone are any indication, they do.