RAISING THE BAR
Chris Hysted-Adams is turning one of Melbourne’s most iconic buildings into a fun Western-themed bar
As a three-time winner of the Australian Bartender of the Year title, Chris Hysted-Adams de nitely knows his way around a bar. And as the man behind many of the exciting products coming out of Melbourne brewery Moon Dog in recent years, such as Fizzer Seltzer and Razzler, he’s well-placed as one of the key people behind the transformation of the iconic Franco Cozzo furniture showroom into a three-level hospitality venue that holds up to 800 people.
Moon Dog Wild West, which is a big brother to the huge Moon Dog World in nearby Preston, boasts over 100 taps, includes a rooftop and secret pianola bar, and, to really stay loyal to its theme, has horseshoe-shaped booths, saloon doors and a bucking bull as the centrepiece on the ground oor for a bull-riders’ league.
Hysted-Adams, who says he’s “been working in booze since I was legally allowed to”, has created an innovative cocktail menu and boozy slushies, to be served alongside Moon Dog’s range of craft beers, Fizzer Alcoholic Seltzer, wines, spirits and non-alcoholic options, complementing the gastro pub menu classics and Tex Mex treats.
“As soon as we discovered the lease was up on the building we just jumped at the opportunity because it’s such an incredibly iconic site,” he tells WHO. “It’s a really cool opportunity to work at such an iconic site and also produce another cool and unique venue. We really like doing something di erent whenever we attack a new project, whether that’s in liquid or hospitality.
“Thanks to my background, I have a pretty good grasp [of ] how to roll out a cocktail program. First and foremost, it’s got to be yummy.”
Hysted-Adams says that they’ve leant into the Americana theme and honky-tonk bar vibe, and every drink not only has to taste good, but look good and smell good, too.
“The whole package has to be really yummy. And I like tugging at the heart strings a little bit, which is something we do with our seltzer range, so with these drinks there’s a great opportunity to do that too.”
One of the drinks he’s most excited about is the Old Fashioned of the day, which uses a syrup from the chef’s pie of the day.“So you can nish your meal with some apple pie and ice cream and have an Old Fashioned that has the same avour pro le to it. I’m super excited about that. We are also launching an alcoholic juice range, which has this really cool juice-box vibe to it, like Prima.”
Moon Dog Wild West, 54 Hopkins Street, Footscray, is open now.