Image: Dolly wine bar. Photo by Lucy Partington Photography.
Owners of the iconic Dolly wine bar are getting ready to ‘Spread’ the excitement, opening a panini bar with a twist this September.
Spread Delicatessen and Bar will be located behind Dolly in Unley, with owner and director Sam Worrall-Thompson the brains and vision behind the venue.
But this isn’t just your ordinary sandwich bar. Spread will transform from a panini and toastie bar during the day into a wine bar on Friday and Saturday nights.
“This has been the cards for about four years. It is something we always wanted to do in terms of more the ‘toastie bar’ kind of vibe, but we wanted it to be joint with another business we have so that crossover,” Sam says.
“Dolly is quite small and is full most Friday and Saturday nights, so the idea was to open Spread and use it at night for overflow from Dolly.”
“The vibe during the day will focus on takeaway, so we are not really pushing the whole ‘sit in’ concept too much, everything is going to be served in takeaway containers or takeaway coffees.”
Spread is like the little sister to Dolly- Spread will have a fun and approachable vibe, whereas Dolly leans towards being more sophisticated.
Although the two venues are located right next door, they will each have their own personalities and identities, but frequently work together.
“We really want it to be a drop-in space for anyone that just wants a quick drink, whereas Dolly can sometimes be seen as a ‘date night’ location. Dolly is a little bit more high-end, so we want this to be a bit more casual. There is no need for a booking, you can just drop in off the street and we will make it work,” Sam says.
“It is quite a simple fit out, it is all open, the idea when you walk in is it is like you are walking into someone’s home kitchen.”
The space will express a Spanish-Italian vibe with mostly Mediterranean wines on offer to marry up with the theme.
Sam and chef Michael have endeavoured to cross over as many flavours that are used during the day into their night menu and they are brimming with different concepts for their food.
Sandwich flavours will flirt between Italian and Spanish, with Italian sliced and cured meats the hero ingredients with fresher, cleaner flavours on offer during the day and naughty elements such as fried fish sandwiches will also make an appearance.
“There has been a bit of a sandwich craze recently with all these delis opening up everywhere. But, it still baffles me that it is hard to get just a fresh panini, there are some out Rostrevor way, but I just feel like for a sandwich it is not easy to get,” Sam says.
Sam said Spread will also help fill the gap of ‘grab-and-go’ offerings that Unley lacks and all sandwiches will be made to order.
Spread is anticipated to open September 5th, starting with just daytime hours for the first three weeks and from September 22nd Friday nights will be added to the schedule.
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