The household name has taken the reins of Bar Carolina, retaining the South Yarra diner’s Italian identity but making it her own with big flavours and a big menu.
Celebrated chef Karen Martini is back in the restaurant game. She’s the new owner and executive chef of South Yarra’s Bar Carolina, taking over the eight-year-old Italian diner from founder Joe Mammone and reopening it after just a week’s hiatus.
Martini has gone independent for her latest venture alongside husband Michael Sapountsis, following the untimely closure of her two most recent restaurants.
St Kilda’s hatted Saint George, where Martini was culinary director, shut for last year’s Christmas break and never reopened, with problem-plagued operator Public Hospitality group unable to guarantee its future, she says. Her hatted Federation Square restaurant Hero closed suddenly in 2023 after an eviction by state government-run film museum ACMI.
“We feel [Bar Carolina] is very different,” says Martini. “It’s a breath of fresh air.”
She hopes it marks a return to the “great stability” of her previous venues Melbourne Wine Room and Mr Wolf, both of which clocked more than 15 years in St Kilda.
As a longtime fan of Bar Carolina and friend of Mammone, Martini jumped at the opportunity when talk of menu consultancy morphed into a passing of the baton.
“We want it to be a great local restaurant, but also a destination restaurant,” says Martini. “It’s a real jewel of a spot at the top end of Toorak Road.”
The core of designer Chris Connell’s original fit-out remains, from two-tone charcoal-and-white walls to terrazzo floors, with new linens and florals adding softness.
But Martini has rejigged the kitchen so she can more seamlessly make her mark on the menu, while also carrying on the legacy of Bar Carolina (including keeping the name).
“We had to cross our hearts and hope to die [that we’d do] Italian,” says Martini.
Her offering traverses Italy’s north and south, a moveable feast driven by seasonality that covers all bases from aperitivo hour to long lunching.
It starts with cicchetti, small Venetian-style snacks that could be fried, stuffed olives all’ascolana or hand-rolled grissini to swipe through parmigiano reggiano fonduta like a cheesy dip.
Then comes the antipasti. Confit artichokes are filled with finely minced prawn. Eye-fillet carpaccio has a steak tartare-esque dressing inspired by Venice icon Harry’s Bar. And deep-fried pizza fritta is topped with mozzarella, burnt honey and fermented chilli.
Housemade pasta is a given. “Already we can’t keep up with [the blue swimmer crab tagliarini orders],” says Martini. Four-cheese cappelletti, ring-shaped pasta parcels, are served on a verdant, herb-packed paste along with sage, brown butter and hazelnuts.
Bannockburn chicken is browned in its own fat, with the seasonal add-on of morel mushrooms; O’Connor rib-eye is Josper-fired and sea-salt-crusted; and veal cotaletta is served bone-in for extra flavour.
The wine list spotlights big, bold Italian reds such as barolo and barbaresco, plus verdicchio, a lively Italian white that Martini hopes will get “people to go beyond chardonnay”.
Drinks will soon start flowing upstairs when Martini reopens rooftop bar Tetto di Carolina just in time for summer, with a fresh rotation of cocktails and snacks.
Lunch and dinner, Tuesday to Sunday
44 Toorak Road, South Yarra, instagram.com/barcarolina_sthyarra
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