You had me at ‘wine bar’. No seriously, let me explain.
When a Newcastle institution like Flotilla says it’s opening a new venue, you can bet the foodies around town all lean a little further forward. Why? Well one, because the team behind Flotilla – which is owned by Silverchair’s Chris Joannou, Zach Scholtz and Eduardo Molina and has Jake Deluca as head chef – clearly knows what they’re doing. Consecutive Good Food Guide Chef’s Hats in both 2022 and 2023 don’t lie.
And two, because when they say this new venue, named Vecina, is going to be a wine bar, you know it will have an extensive, well-considered wine list. Not only that, but in true Flotilla-style, you can be confident it’s going to have some of the tastiest bar snacks you’ll likely encounter with some of the best service you’ll ever find. Tick, tick, and tick.
Located on Albert Street in Wickham, flotilla means a fleet of ship or boats, and is a nod to the area’s nearby harbour. Since it opened in 2019, Flotilla has been known for its hyper-seasonal menu that changes every six weeks. From the outset, the restaurant has been focussed on lovingly prepared, local produce served in a relaxed environment. Eduardo calls the Flotilla approach, ‛refined casual dining,’ and says it’s a restaurant that does everything – food, wine, cocktails, service, ambience – really well.
Located right next door to Flotilla is Vecina, which means neighbour, in Spanish. Opening in December 2023, Vecina is an intimate twenty to twenty-five-seater wine bar that is home to Newcastle’s largest by-the-glass list. Whilst Flotilla and Vecina are separate venues, they are connected via the bar and share the same kitchen.
When a Newcastle institution like Flotilla says it’s opening a new venue, you can bet the foodies around town all lean a little further forward.
There’s also a lovely visual symbiosis between the venues thanks to the interior and exterior design with its hues of baby blue and pastel pink. Vecina was fitted out by acclaimed Newcastle-based architect Jason Elsley of Derive Architecture who completed the original fit-out for Flotilla.
In describing how the newest venue on the block came about, Eduardo says, with a laugh, that it sprung from his own proclivity: “I needed a little wine bar and a snack bar to maybe misbehave on the days I’m not at Flotilla.”
Formerly a hair salon, the mirrored walls remain. When the Vecina premises became available, Eduardo says it was a no brainer to take it on. He goes on to explain how the venture also gave him skin in the game.
“Chris and Zach were great and sold me a chunk of the restaurant, and we used that money to build Vecina.” Eduardo says that one way to think of Vecina is Flotilla’s little sister. “It’s the same model as Flotilla – really good wine and cocktails, incredible service but in more of a snack menu that comes with the same dedication and passion that we put into the food at Flotilla.”
Located right next door to Flotilla is Vecina, which means neighbour, in Spanish.
Not to be missed on Vecina’s Spanish/French inspired snack menu are the spicy, salty, pickled gildas that burst with flavour in your mouth. Equally appetising and flavourful are the manchego croquettes and tempura zucchini flowers with honey and parmesan, and I can promise you, you won’t regret ordering a lamb and manzanilla olive empanada.
Wednesday nights at Vecina are steak nights where you can enjoy a sixty-day dry-aged Black Angus, either the one-kilogram ribeye or the 400-gram sirloin, cooked over Flotilla’s Mibrasa charcoal grill.
In terms of the wine lists at both Flotilla and Vecina, which are curated by Eduardo, alternative varietals and light bodied styles shine through with a broad selection of international and domestic options available.
“I always say wine selections reassemble the people who put them together,” says Eduardo. “So, in many ways, it’s very me and very much my team. We like to drink light bodied and medium bodied reds with soft tannins – we stay away from very big wines. We look at alternative varietals and we look at small producers. I would say that 95% of the wine here is extremely sustainable. It’s biodynamic and organic and that has a big effect in how we choose things.
“A lot of the buying is also about connections with people and falling in love with certain regions. For example, right now, we’re all about Italian, Sicilian, southern reds. We’re also about Beechworth, Victoria gamays, nebbiolos and chardonnay. Every year our focus changes a little bit, but what doesn’t change is that we care about sustainability and how those vineyards are farmed. We care about promoting and supporting small producers, both in Australia but also in Europe.”
“It’s the same model as Flotilla – really good wine and cocktails, incredible service but in more of a snack menu that comes with the same dedication and passion that we put into the food at Flotilla.”
This commitment to care continues just as strongly when it comes to food. Under head chef, Jake Deluca – who trained with Hunter Valley legend Robert Molines at Bistro Molines before gaining international experience in London – Flotilla’s food has that classic French influence with a contemporary touch.
With a five-course set menu for dinner Thursday to Saturday and lunch on Saturday and Sunday, the hard work (and food envy) associated with deciding what to eat is largely taken out of your hands. The toughest decisions you’ll have to make will be whether you go with the optional add-ons and which drinks to get. And you’ll receive plenty of guidance from the friendly, knowledgeable staff.
Relaxed as the atmosphere may be in both Flotilla and Vecina, when it comes to the kitchen, it’s all precision. Watching the Flotilla chefs work, it’s clearly a well-oiled machine. Every plate is given a meticulous once over before leaving the kitchen, which becomes immediately evident, even before it hits your mouth. Served in stunning locally made ceramic bowls, plates and dishes, visually all the food is pretty as a picture. Taste-wise, it’s hard to find fault.
The Albany Western Australia Rock Oysters with hot sauce would have to be some of the best I’ve ever tasted, while the Bull’s Heart Tomato, Smoked Stracciatella and Parma Ham salad leaves you wondering how it’s possible to make something so striking from such simple ingredients. Other showstoppers include the Ocean Trout with Farfalle in a Citrus Velouté, and honestly, I can’t think of a better way to finish off a meal than with the refreshing Peach Melba served with Pistachio Ice Cream and Pistachio Crumb.
In asking Eduardo how he wants people to feel when visiting either Flotilla or Vecina he puts it aptly saying, “At home. Just come as you are. It’ll be somewhere warm, where you’ll receive good service and want to come back to.”
In describing where the inspiration for the menu comes from Jake says it’s largely dependent on seasonal availability.
“It generally starts with speaking to our suppliers determining what’s good in season and what’s fair value for money? And then- it’s previous experiences with things that we’ve tried. We try to take older recipes and then manipulate them in modern ways,” elaborates Jake.
Flotilla is clever food, thoughtful flavour combinations and satisfying textures executed perfectly – but minus all the pretence that can often accompany fine dining. Everything coming out of the kitchen and being served at both Flotilla and Vecina looks good and tastes great, but more than that, thanks to the laid-back ambience of both spaces and the attentive service of the staff, it feels welcoming – they’re both the kind of places you could settle into for the afternoon or the evening.
In asking Eduardo how he wants people to feel when visiting either Flotilla or Vecina he puts it aptly saying, “At home. Just come as you are. It’ll be somewhere warm, where you’ll receive good service and want to come back to.”
And come back, we most certainly will.
Words: Emily McGrorey | Photography: David Griffen
As seen in Swell Issue 20. Grab your copy here
