Glamorama

Oh, the times I've had here, if only I could remember them. I came to the original First Floor in the early '00s; the old sign still hangs over Brunswick Street. Much later I was a regular at Closet, a raucous queer night hosted here one Friday a month that has moved to the Stone Hotel up the road. Then the place had a "Hipsroy" makeover (mason jars, hanging bulbs) and became Little + Olver​.

Less than a year later, it's changed hands and names again. New owners Simon Henderson, Jeremy Koadlow, John Ryan and Anthony Cannan​ of South Yarra's Less Than Zero have invested wisely, and the fact that it's named after another morally bankrupt Bret Easton Ellis novel suggests things haven't changed too much.

They've opened up the floor, blasted out some tall windows, removed the old passport photo booth (vale), turned the smokers' pen into an astroturfed courtyard, installed comfortable booths and one of the most elaborate sound systems in the city.

There's a fresh roster of electro artists playing late into the evening, or rather early in the morning. You can get a cocktail until 3am during the week and 5am on weekends – who says nothing good happens after midnight?

The bar menu is surprisingly adroit, especially in the whisky department. There are more than two dozen Australian whiskies including the lauded Sullivans Cove French Oak for $35 a nip, plus a swathe of drams from Scotland and Japan.

But the party crowd are perhaps more likely to mainline cocktails with names such as Vote For Pedro at $16 a pop, or swill $7 schooners of house Lager-rama.

They've overhauled the kitchen, too, and it's got vegan-friendly fare from ex-Sweetwater Inn alum Shaun Hansen. This is high-concept drinking food with a laddish sense of humour.

"Phat" pork sausage rolls and "botox pies" come with plastic syringes of sauce to inject into the pastry, a junkie-chic gimmick for what is rather standard finger food.

Quirky names rule, such as the "Chicken Tits" (crisp chicken breast with mushies, asparagus and kale), or "Going the Whole Hock" (pork knuckle with crackling and piles of slaw), but the results are incongruously upmarket. Most clubbers will likely go for fried yellow food: chips and gravy, or potato croquettes with vegan aioli. 

The kitchen closes at 11pm, and everyone gets down to the business of bad behaviour.

Charming seediness was always the point of this late-night survivor. It's the north side's answer to Revolver, ready for the next generation to have a night they won't remember.

THE LOW-DOWN
Drink this Sullivans Cove French Oak, $35
Eat this Phat rolls, $12
Say this "What a difference a sledgehammer makes."
Know this The fancy Funktion-One sound system is used in the world's best clubs.