02/11/2023
If you’ve driven past 137 Magill Road lately, you might have noticed some mysterious goings-on behind the sheer curtains shielding it from the busy street outside. Last Saturday, all was revealed with the launch of Ern Malley.
The “piano bar, wine bar and whiskey bar” was inspired by owner Paul Gallasch’s late sister, a writer and frequent traveller who thought that Adelaide needed “a salon where people could collaborate, trade ideas and dress up while having a sophisticated cultural exchange,” explains manager Stan Mahoney.
To that end, he has already invited a group of local poets and critics to host regular readings and customers entering through a courtyard accessed from Ann Street will pass a bookshelf packed with literary classics and obscurities on their way to the bar. “People can borrow those books or even buy them,” says Mahoney, adding, “we’re all book collectors so there are boxes and boxes of books in storage that we're yet to trot out.”
The literary theme is fitting given the bar takes its name from the protagonist of the world’s greatest literary hoax, which occurred right here in Adelaide. Several drinks draw their names from the fictional Malley’s poems, and there’s also an excellent wine list drawn from local labels (plus French champagne and Italian prosecco). The food offering will consist of tapas plates accompanied by a single more substantial dish. Mahoney cites chilli with all the fixings and mussels with white wine and herbs as two possibilities, but adds, “it will be a set menu so you can expect something different almost every time.”
Inside, avocado green walls and sections of exposed brick add to the strangely timeless feel, while a Baldwin piano and full length mirror lie across from a beautifully stained bar that was custom made by local designer Timothy Tuppence. “I want people to bring their dates in here and feel like they're the first people to discover it,” says Mahoney. “That’s part of the reason we have no social media.”
“It’s the kind of place where you will see somebody casually playing the piano for tips while people are having a conversation and not necessarily glued to it. There have already been a few impromptu performances, and one of the investors plays a mean Chopin late at night after a couple of drinks.”
And the space at the back will come into its own in the warmer months. “It’s like a secret courtyard with dappled light from the fig and olive trees, children running around and people quaffing Prosecco,” Mahoney gushes as he gestures around. “It’s so pretty, it looks like the wedding party from The Godfather.”
Ern Malley is open from 4 pm until midnight from Wednesday to Friday, and until 1 am on Saturday, with coffee and brunch from 10 am on Saturday morning.
