Maybe Frank Randwick Opens Today

Maybe Frank co-owners Stefano Catino and Vince Lombardo are bringing the popular Surry Hills venue to Randwick.

L-R: Antonello Arzedi, Andrea Gualdi, Stefano Catino, Vince Lombardo

Since Maybe Frank opened two years ago in Surry Hills, it has won the hearts, palates and imagination of Sydney-siders with their delicious pizza and pasta menu and creative cocktails. Its younger sibling is set to become just as popular with Randwick locals.

Maybe Frank Randwick is located along Perouse Road in the area known as “The Spot”. The restaurant is reminiscent of the Surry Hills venue with its branding, murals and colour scheme but with a few notable changes.

The split-level dining room offers a combination of low table dining, high chairs and an intimate space by the window – ideal for friends catching up over a pizza and a cocktail.

The central bar is longer, more than twice the size of Surry Hills with a creative cocktail offering that will change regularly.

An outdoor dining area is set amidst a garden space with fresh herbs and aromatics that make their way into cocktails.

Chef Alessandro Leveratto is in the kitchen with pizzaiolo Vincenzo Montaruli working the wood-fired oven.

The food menu will initially be similar to that of Surry Hills until Randwick develops its own identity. You’ll find the same well-loved Pizze Rosse and Pizze Bianchi, antipasti and a selection of pasta dishes including Papa Vito’s Lasagne al Pesto.

The cocktail offering is designed to be a dynamic menu, changing on a weekly basis. The tasks are split between Group Bars Manager, Andrea Gualdi, Randwick Bar Manager Antonello Arzedi (ex Pino’s Vino e Cucina) and Surry Hills Bar Manager Balazs Molnar (formerly of Artesian in London and Lobster Bar Shangri-la in Hong Kong).

Gone is the pizza-shaped cocktail menu, instead a concise list features cocktails, a shared drink, a premium cocktail using premium spirits or more elaborate cocktail techniques, wine, beer, a non-alcoholic cocktail and a special pizza.

The recipes are a collaborative effort between the two venues, a result of running creative sessions on a weekly basis. Every cocktail is pre-batched in five litre containers and remains on the menu until it is finished, making way for a different drink. The same applies for wine and beer which ensures the drinks offering is continuously evolving.

L-R: Almond, Sage, Pineapple

The cocktails have not been given names. Instead, the focus is on flavour with the predominant one named first. “It’s a new way of working,” Group Bars Manager Andrea Gualdi explains. “Before, we put the concept and stories first, now we concentrate on flavour.”

Each drink is given an emoji which denotes flavour intensity, not necessarily alcohol strength. The green seedling emoji refers to a cocktail that uses ingredients from the garden such as Sage: Tanqueray 10, Martini Ambrato, Butter – a Martini style drink made with sage and butter fat-washed gin.  

The opportunity to work with different ingredients and techniques such as fermentation is a new challenge for the team, who have adopted a chef’s approach to market fresh produce. “Bartender-wise, it keeps it fresh and interesting,” says Gualdi.

Maybe Frank Randwick trades Tuesdays to Sundays and officially opens on Thursday 9 November 2017.

To quote co-owner Stefano Catino, “Make Randwick great again”.

Maybe Frank Randwick
69 Perouse Rd, Randwick NSW 2031
Phone: (02) 9398 8061
Hours: Tuesday to Saturday 5.30pm to 11 pm; Sunday 5.30pm to 10pm

Photography © by Gourmantic – Copyright: All rights reserved.