A new 92-seat wine bar, dining room and take-home cellar will launch at a recently opened Sunshine Coast hotel this month.
First Avenue Bar + Cellar is scheduled to open on the ground floor of Avani Mooloolaba Beach Hotel, at the corner of Brisbane Road and First Avenue in Mooloolaba, on November 26.
Work is underway on the venue, which will have 54 indoor and 38 outdoor seats spread across the bar, banquettes, window seating and a communal tasting table.
It is the latest addition to the 180-room hotel, which opened on May 11 as the Sunshine Coast’s first full-service internationally branded hotel in more than four decades.
An existing dining venue, Sully’s Rooftop, operates on level 12.
First Avenue has been designed by Queensland designer Taryn Raso, with KPAT Hotels saying the concept drew inspiration from smaller European neighbourhood wine bars.
KPAT Hotels managing director Kenneth Wagner said the new venue would differ from the hotel’s larger rooftop offering.
“First Avenue will be smaller and more personal,” he said.
“It’s the kind of place you’d find on a side street in Europe – somewhere locals and visitors can feel at home, whether that’s a glass after the beach, a long dinner on holiday or a bottle picked up on the way home or back to the room.”
Venue manager and sommelier Alex Menzies has been appointed to lead the wine program.
The wine list will include a regularly changing by-the-glass selection and flights of three guided pours for a set price.
Every bottle stocked on the shelves will also be available to take away, along with beer and spirits, while staff will write monthly shelf notes highlighting their preferred bottles.
A planned Meet the Maker series will bring winemakers, brewers and other producers to the communal tasting table.
The venue will also offer a sensory wine experience for couples and small groups, with details expected to be released closer to the opening.
Food will be designed to complement the wine, with the menu drawing on European wine-bar dining and using Sunshine Coast produce.
Mains will be served as individual plates, while customers will be able to assemble cheeseboards from a cold display and buy the cheeses from the venue’s retail fridge.
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First Avenue will also be available for private functions, including wedding-related events connected with the hotel.
KPAT Hotels said trading hours and the first Meet the Maker guests would be announced in coming weeks.
