First Look: Bar Lola bringing some Mambo Italiano to Verity Lane
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Verity Lane offers food for every appetite in a busy, buzzy, European food hall. But for those who want something a bit more intimate and a lot more Italian, the opening of Bar Lola is cause for celebration.
Promising fresh, daily-made pasta from a bespoke Italian menu, a kitchen open til 10 pm, an aperitivo list to drool over, and a dark and moody vibe inspired by former Italian model and 1950s film star Gina Lollobrigida, Bar Lola looks likely to be Canberra’s next hot spot as the weather cools down.
Opening this Wednesday 21 May, Bar Lola takes out the prime corner position of the Sydney Building, looking out onto Northbourne Avenue. With a custom-made walnut bar, mood lighting and walls full of 50s nostalgia, Bar Lola promises an Italian pasta bistro, heavy on candlelight and cosy tables.
While it is often hard to get a hot meal in Canberra after 9 pm, Bar Lola will be pumping out pasta until around 10 pm. Just what frosty Canberrans need after a movie or theatre show.
The menu comprises four freshly-made daily pasta specials, including Fusilli with house-made pesto and burrata, Spaghetti Puttanesca, Fettucine with braised ragù and crème fraiche, and Spaghetti Carbonara.
The Antipasti list includes Ciabatta with whipped nduja and ricotta schmear, Burrata with caramelised endive and walnut pangrattato, savoury cannoli, Vitello Tonato with crispy capers, and Polpette with tomato sugo and crusty bread – just to whet your appetite.
Desserts include Pannacotta, Tiramisu and sweet Cannoli and the Affogato comes with your choice of Frangelico, Amaretto or Grappa.
Speaking of spirits, drinks will focus on the classic cocktails and aperitivo that Gina herself may have sipped while she told Hollywood producer Howard Hughes that she wasn’t moving to America as she couldn’t bear to leave Italy. Good call.
Think classic Martinis, Aperol Spritz, Negronis, Americanos and Spagliatos. And brush up on your Duolingo before opening the wine menu as all wines and beers are Italiano.
Bar Lola will open Wednesday to Saturday, as well as being available for private hire.
THE ESSENTIALS
What: Bar Lola
Where: Verity Lane, Sydney Building, Civic
When: Wednesday to Saturday 5 pm til late
Web: Barlola.com.au
Photography by PewPew Studio
