It wasn’t long ago that Peel St was a dingy alleyway jutting out of Hindley St; the ugly duckling to Leigh St’s beautiful swan. Once the home of street dwellers and the weird and wonderful inhabitants of Format Art Space, Peel St’s counter-cultural heritage has been revitalised with the introduction of small bar licenses and a growing interest in laneway culture. It is now a dynamic hub of creative venue spaces.

The past few weeks have seen the arrival of four new additions to the rapidly expanding Peel St family. We took a stroll down the lively laneway for a closer look.

 

Bread & Bone Wood Grill

With no end in sight to the epidemic of burgers currently plaguing Adelaide, it’s an opportune time for a bar and grill with a difference to set up shop. Enter Bread & Bone. Established by a collaboration of Adelaide food entrepreneurs – including the owners of Press, who know a thing or two about how to flip a burger – this upmarket (and upstairs) eatery has the cure for grilled meat mediocrity.

“There are a lot of places doing [burgers], and doing it quite well,” admits co-director Mark Veall. “We didn’t want it to be too Americana or anything or too ‘themic’, so we thought more of the focus should be on the fact that it’s a wood grill kitchen. So there’s other offerings as well, like scotch fillet, chopped salads, green salads, fish of the day, special fried chicken, ribs and that sort of thing as well.”

That’s not to say Bread & Bone steers clear of burgers – they dominate the menu – but there’s a clear intention to stand out from the crowd. The restaurant’s elaborate entrance should be indicative enough of this. A tiled cylindrical walkway has been carved out of the old entrance to Format, transformed into an arcade of sorts leading to adjoining Leigh Street. A circular door in the fashion of a Tatooine hovel marks the middle of the walkway. Upstairs takes you to Bread & Bone, but this is only half of the picture. A right turn downstairs takes you to a different sort of hole in the wall…

 

Maybe Mae

The 85-capacity basement bar underneath Bread & Bone completes the revamp of this unique, former art space. Encompassing a speakeasy vibe with plenty of cocktails on offer, Veall says the ability to offer a variety of experiences in the mutli-purpose venue was a key driving force behind it.

“We wanted to diversify, diversify away from the hotdog and burger things, but also offer a similar style of in-house service like Press downstairs, where it’s casual and fun but still offers professional service.

“We didn’t want [Maybe Mae] to be too secretive that no one knew about it, but we wanted to have a word-of-mouth feel behind it. There have been line-ups Friday and Saturday nights out there so it doesn’t seem secretive!”

With the introduction of small bar licenses and football finding a new home in Adelaide Oval, Veall can already feel the street being revitalised.

“Bringing the football to the city has just helped these two streets [Peel St and Leigh St] enormously. It was a vast, busy opening night.”

 

La Moka

Behind an extravagant yellow coffee machine hides an exuberant Italian collaboration between Manuel Francesconi, his wife Linda Mercorella and friend Antonio Frasca at new Peel St café-bar, La Moka. Joining the Peel St posse, La Moka sits opposite Clever Little Taylor, Bread & Bone Wood Grill and Maybe Mae with its sunny charm.

A vibrant and cosy café by day and aperitivo come night, La Moka’s fine coffee alluring the senses and indulgent cocktails are the core of Adelaide’s latest slice of Italy.

“Among our positive reviews, a lot of people are praising the coffee and the espresso martinis,” says Francesconi.

Brought to Australia via a sponsor with a previous job, Francesconi found Adelaide an ideal ‘big city’ compared to his small town Italian origins. He had an urge to create a personalised Italy here and be recognised for the best coffee, the point of difference being the use of a traditional machine with Frida and moka coffee. Though the manual lever-driven machine takes longer to brew – 10 seconds longer – Francesconi wanted to best represent his home country with a fine, “less bitter, softer coffee”.

In another turn to tradition, the concept of an all-day aperitivo offers a factor beyond comparison: “The aperitivo is a custom which was started in Italy where you’d in go to a disco and enter with two tickets – one a drink and one a plate of food.

“On Thursday, Friday, Saturday nights we’re going to serve aperitivo and that means that with any purchased drink, you get a complementary platter with Italian small goods – something to nibble on with friends.”

La Moka is founded on warmth and celebration, as illustrated when they opened with a full capacity “baptism of fire”. Francesconi sees a bright and rewarding future for his café and the Peel Street district.

“We’re all competition, but we’re not really because the street itself will become one of the state’s new precincts. This summer there will be a good influx of people as they go from one place to another. There are no same offerings between different venues and in a few months it will be very good.”

Chihuahua Bar

Rounding off the newcomers to Peel St is the Mexican-themed Chihuahua Bar. A venue two years in the making, the split-level bar opened its doors a few weeks ago, with an official launch expected soon.

Mexico dominates the decor. Day Of The Dead-style painted skulls hang above the bar, while coloured crucifixes adorn a feature wall. But it’s Chihuahua’s emphasis on one of Mexico’s most loved spirits that sets it apart. No, not tequila. This bar is all about mezcal, and co-owner Ross Stanley is laying claim as Adelaide’s sole provider of boutique brand El Jolgorio.

It’s hard to get a proper feel for Chihuahua during the day, but the unplugged turntables and plush sofas upstairs are encouraging signs. The disorienting mirror walls in the stairwell might be an issue after a few too many mezcals, though.

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Jimmy Byzantine & Hannah Lalley

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Manuel Francesconi at La Moka