Crowne Plaza Melbourne is where you’ll find Dive Bar; an intimate cocktail lounge which makes the least expected and yet perfect escape the hustle of the city at the southern end of town. It’s here you’ll find Restaurant & Bar Manager Sophia Moore who keeps a close eye on the top notch classic cocktails and a share plate menu that riff on good times here.
The Write Drop spoke to Sophia Moore for our At The Bar series.
MY CITY
Melbourne has so much to offer – the best restaurants and bar, amazing shows available [both big and small productions], a never-ending choice of street parties or events and activations available and of course so many different cultures and people you never know who you will meet or what they may be able to teach you.
FAVOURITE FOOD MEMORY
One of my all-time favourite meals was on the Gold Coast at a restaurant called Etsu Izakaya five years ago. It was an unexpectedly amazing experience, and the dish that stuck with me was the edamame chocolate dessert. It was full of texture and flavour and very unique.
FAVOURITE BAR
Black Kite Commune is up there as one of my all-time favourites – it has my two favourite things in abundance; wine and gin. Depending on the day, I’ll typically ask Jess behind the bar to surprise me with a wet, floral gin martini of her choosing – fortunately I have gone so enough times she knows exactly what I like.
DRINK THAT DESCRIBES YOU
Mezcal last word; not sure if it’s a drink that describes you but it definitely my all-time favourite – it’s a beautiful twist on the classic with a smoky edge that I love.
BEST HANGOVER CURE
Pizza and a nap on the couch watching some trashy TV with my cats cuddled up next to me.
BEST INTERSTATE BAR
Dark Blue – Brisbane. It is a newly opened sister venue to Dark Red and has a crew of well-seasoned hospitality pros behind it; we were fortunate enough to visit in its first week and could already feel the beautiful excitement in the offering from the team behind it.
OVERSEAS BAR
Panda & Sons – Edinburgh, UK.
FAVOURITE WINE
Reed Wines – White Heart Riesling. It is a beautifully made product that is very well priced, easy to drink and made by an amazing local producer.
FAVOURITE WINERY
As you can probably tell from above Reed is my absolute favourite producer; Sierra is a woman who puts all her energy into her winemaking and is extremely generous in sharing her time and insights with anyone who shows interest – if you ever have the chance to visit her at the winery or at a wine event I would strongly recommend doing so.
NEXT DESTINATION
Japan is next up for us; my husband and I were originally planning to go for our honeymoon before COVID got in the way of that so it is our next stop to go eat and drink our way around.
