Debacle Restaurant and Bar is just about ready to reopen in plush new premises at Mode 3 – the new multi-use development at 24 Lonsdale Street.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The restaurant shut up shop at 30 Lonsdale on February 23, after operating from the location for a decade.
Owner and director Vladimir Hatala said elements of the fit out from the old restaurant had been transferred to the new premises, which officially opens on Monday, to help create a “similar feel”.
“We’re not trying to be something completely different,” he said.
“We hope that we have transferred the spirit of Debacle.”
Customers can however look forward to a new lounge bar.
“We hope to cater better for drinkers, not just eaters,” Mr Hatala said.
New aspects of the fit out include a state-of-the-art beer cooling system to keep the restaurant's 11 tap beers chilled, exposed ceilings, and a 120-year-old timber floor, salvaged from old woolshed in Sydney.
Head chef Katherine Brown has completed a seasonal update to the menu, but pizza-lovers will be pleased to know the restaurant’s two-for-one pizza nights on Monday and Tuesday will remain.
Mr Hatala said it watching the old Debacle building being demolished this week was a bitter-sweet moment.
“I was standing in front of it and feeling sad,” he said.
But the restaurateur said he “can’t wait” to introduce customers to the new premises at Mode 3.
“The difference is the new building,” he said. “I believe we have again created something unpretentious.”
The six-storey Mode 3 development will also be home to more than 100 residential units, as well as office and retail space.
The new restaurant will officially open for business on Monday March 25, serving breakfast from 8am.
A ‘soft launch’ will also be held on Sunday afternoon from 1pm for friends, with the public also welcome to drop by.
