The three-man team behind the newly opened Four Sides Bar & Kitchen explain their funky fusion of fermenting, chargrilling and painkiller cocktails.

Fabien Streit, Nazzareno Falaschetti and Baz Rampa are behind the new concept for the old Local Wine Co space on King William Road in Hyde Park.

“Four Sides is the three of us, three different backgrounds; me as Italian, Fabien as French and Baz as Indian… it’s the three of us together trying to close the square, the fourth side, which is the modern Australian food,” Nazza says.

The trio’s first restaurant, Bistro Francais, is located just up the road, and now they have expanded 165 King William Road to create a venue with two dining experiences: a relaxed bar-style atmosphere in one area and a more sophisticated, upmarket restaurant in the other.

The food has been labelled as contemporary Australian but that doesn’t begin to describe what they are plating up.

The mix of small dishes to large dishes are all based around chargrilling, smoking, fermentation and pickling.

“The menu is still a work in progress at the moment, but we plan to change the menu every two to three months,” Nazza says.

“For now, the chef is doing more of an Asian fusion take, combining this with his French background and South American-style food.”

Nazza told CityMag that Executive Chef Fabien lives by one rule when curating the menu, and that one rule is to serve “whatever tastes good”.

Nazza extends this rule to beverages as well.

“The beverage list will also be wide in variation. Cocktails will feature highly as well as whiskey and bourbon,” he says.

“There will be an extensive wine selection in homage to the former premises. Three wine dispensers will feature behind the bar, with 24 wines served by the glass.”

Though still a work in progress, the cocktail list is based on modern twists to traditional cocktails, and will incorporate techniques used for the food such as fermentation and chargrilling.

“I do a lot of fermenting; I ferment the sugar syrup, and for example, I make a painkiller cocktail with chargrilled pineapple juice that we make here,” Nazza says.

He says they can already start to tell what food and drinks are more popular and are very excited to further refine their menu as they get feedback.

“Opening night was very good. The place was pretty much booked out for the restaurant side, and a few tables booked for snacks and drinks in the bar but, they loved it… the food, the drinks, the atmosphere, everything,” Nazza says.