First Look: Heading Uptown on Lonsdale Street for a new concept in dining.

Posted on 29 April, 2025

Uptown Vibes is the latest addition to Lonsdale Street’s thriving restaurant scene.

But in a strip already crowded with eateries, Uptown (as it’s more easily known) has a few important points of difference.

For starters, it’s a new concept – combining two levels of dining, a downstairs bakery and bar, and an elevated bistro upstairs with what must surely be the most expansive views onto Lonsdale Street through a bank of floor-to-ceiling glass windows.

The creation of Coco and Rye Bakery owners James Zhang and Sandra Refuerzo, under the careful guidance of experienced restaurant consultant Tasso Rovolis (who brought us Brunello, and helped launch Matt Moran’s Compa onto the market), Uptown has the European feel and flavours of Brunello, while also bringing the joys of fresh, locally baked bread and pastries to the top (city) end of Lonsdale Street.

Located in what was formerly Lonsdale Street Roasters (and serving and selling Lonsdale Street coffee beans as a fitting homage to its heritage), the two-storey fit-out also includes a barista bar, a shelved selection of smallgoods for purchase, and bakery station that bursts with Coco and Rye produce each morning fresh out of its Fyshwick ovens.

There is outdoor seating underneath a large plane tree and bi-folding doors allowing customers to sit inside and enjoy a coffee and pastry (please make ours a donut) while the busy street passes by.

Open all day, you may want to grab a fresh loaf with your coffee early in the morning or take over a comfy banquette to ponder the lunch menu. Lunch can happily extend into afternoon drinks and charcuterie platters, but once it’s time for dinner, diners need to head upstairs for an elevated European bistro experience. Should we mention the bar menu and bar is open all day? So if you’d rather have an espresso martini than an espresso to wash down your mid-morning croissant then you have found the perfect spot.

Under head chef Leo Bueno, who was originally scouted by Tasso to work at Brunello, the menu brings together modern European/Australian tastes and, even in its soft launch this weekend, was hitting all the right notes.

From the crackling crust of the Coco and Rye artisan sourdough dipped in butter whipped with aged Balsamic Vinegar (let us be the first to tell you this is a taste sensation) to the warm marinated olives and house-made dips, we know we are in for a good time.

Starters arrive and include a 36-hour cooked Pork Belly with a pickle and fennel slaw, Tuna Tartare with crispy potato, sesame, soy and fresh herbs, and some enormous King Prawns with bourbon butter and wakame salad.

Dietary options are well catered for, from vegan to dairy and gluten-free, and we are particularly enamoured with a vegan layered Eggplant and Zucchini Caponata with a Napoletana and fried caper sauce.

Mains come as share plates and include a crispy-skinned fish fillet (whatever is good from the market that day, but we had trout) with a Moqueca sauce and capsicum salsa, MB5+Wagyu Striploin with herbed butter, and a roasted head of Golden Cauliflower with goat’s curd, pickled vegetables and smoked paprika (which will convert even the most hardened cauliflower sceptic).

If you’re a committed carnivore and maybe dining with a group, the 1.4kg slow-cooked oyster-cut lamb shoulder with Persian fetta and fig glaze will make for a memorable experience.

Even the sides come with finesse – the seasonal greens with whipped ricotta and caramelised nuts would be delightful as a dish in its own right.

While Uptown is a brand-new restaurant, the chef, kitchen and bar staff are experienced and we did not find a single lacklustre mouthful. The dessert menu is small but special – a Tres Leches Chocolate Cake which is light, moist and – almost impossible to believe ­– gluten-free. The  Quince Tarte Tatin comes with some theatre, as the waiter scoops vanilla ice cream and pours caramel sauce at the table. There’s also a cracking good selection of cheeses for the cheese platter if you want something to soak up a dessert wine.

Speaking of wine, Tasso brings his experience to Uptown’s curated wine selection and it has some varieties you may not have yet tried but will relish – such as our bottle of Donnachadh Chardonnay hailing from the hills of Santa Barbara. Who knew? There’s a good selection of cocktails (and mocktails) and beers, which you may want to enjoy from the corner lounge area before you sit at your table.

We sit above Lonsdale Street and feel a little like we are eating in a tree house. In fact, it’s hard not to be distracted by life on the street from our elevated position. That is until a dish arrives at the table and our focus comes back to some truly elevated food.