Melbourne: The Making of a Drinking and Eating Capital

Melbourne’s bustling laneways and tree-lined streets are renowned for their incredible choice of places to eat and drink – from stylish sidewalk cafes and dark, hidden-away bars to elegant award-winning restaurants and cheap and cheerful eateries. But it has not always been this way. As little as fifty years ago the six o’clock swill held the pubs in its crazed binge-drinking grip and as little as twenty years ago you could break the law trying to get a drink with your meal. Now the city has blossomed into a cosmopolitan food-lover’s paradise, which is all thanks to the changes to Victoria’s liquor licensing legislation in 1988. Regarded as a hero in restaurant and bar circles, Professor John Nieuwenhuysen was the driving force behind these changes with his visionary and controversial report on the existing liquor legislation. The recommendations within the Nieuwenhuysen Report changed Victoria’s licensing laws from the most conservative in the country to the most liberal and saw an explosion of creativity and innovation in bars, cafes, wine bars, bottleshops, wineries and restaurants around the state.

Respected food veterans Mietta O’Donnell, Donlevy Fitzpatrick and Stephanie Alexander were among many who seized the opportunity to throw off the shackles of an antiquated, restricting licensing regime and use the new freedoms to provide a truly civilised wining and dining culture. Much-loved institutions such as Jimmy Watson’s, Pellegrini’s and Grossi Florentino followed suit while the new laws also saw the first wave of groundbreaking drinking establishments led by Meyer’s Place bar, the first of the now prolific ‘Melbourne-style’ laneway bars.

With a deft and humorous touch Michael Harden charts the movers and shakers behind Melbourne’s transformation into the thriving, intriguing city it is today. Colourfully captured in photographs old and new, Melbourne shows why this city is truly deserving of its reputation as a world-renowned drinking and eating destination.