Town Hall Hotel
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Town Hall Hotel

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“People think that because it’s a One Hat restaurant that they can’t go in there,” he says. “It’s perceived that it’s expensive.”  

The acclaimed Fitzroy eatery is contemporary, but the beautifully unassuming and handsome traditional pub décor (sans the sticky carpet) has allowed for a refined, yet casual experience. A lot of the original fittings are still there, including the 1920s stained glass windows that Lilai has repurposed as decorative centrepieces in the bistro dining rooms.  

The front bar, where we sit down with him, is light but still with that comfortable old pub feel. His beer taps change regularly: “I’m not tied to anyone,” he affirms.

His passion for top quality ingredients is palpable; everything that can be made in-house is: he churns his own butter, ferments his own Louisiana-style hot sauce (which takes about three weeks), and makes his own pasta, among other things. What he can’t do in house, he sources locally, like his heavenly prosciutto di Parma from the second generation family-run Largo Butchers just around the corner.

The food available at the bar is, quite frankly, sensational. The chicken wings, which are baked first then flash fried, are crispy but still very light, and are served with house pickles, cos lettuce with house mayonnaise and with a small jug of that fiery, hotter-than-holy-hell hot sauce. It’s still cooked by the same expert chefs that give the place the One Hat rating; yet there is nothing on this impressive bar menu that’s over $20. Ripper.

Lilai seems to have achieved the culinary Holy Grail: a perfect balance of fine food and service without a morsel of pomposity.

Lilai carefully selects his staff to ensure everyone shares the same passion for quality and knowledge as he does: “They’re not blow-ins.”

He’s onto a winner geographically; there aren’t a lot of places around the Brunswick Street area where the bar food is top notch. It has, over recent times, become similar to Lygon Street where quantity seems to be more prominent than quality.  

“A lot of bars can’t afford good chefs,” he says frankly. “It’s cost effective: chuck it in the deep fryer and they’re fopping it out for the same price.”

The Town Hall Hotel’s front bar is a wonderful hybrid of gastronomic expertise with the casual vibe you’d want from a regular pub, and Lilai says it’s constantly evolving. With that, he whisks off to greet and have a friendly chinwag with other patrons.

BY TRACY TURDUCKEN 

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