Former Esquire co-owner opens The Bounty in Rosalie

Cameron Murchison, former co-owner of the three-hatted Esquire, will open the doors of his new project in Rosalie next week.

The Bounty Restaurant & Bar is his first solo venture, and Murchison says he's nervous but excited.

"It's a great area. I lived around here for five years, and my wife for 14 years, and we recognised that while just about every cuisine was represented, there were few doing modern Australian and there was no real bar in Rosalie either," Murchison says.

The name was suggested to Murchison by his nine-year-old stepson. "We wanted a destination name. One that had connotations of bountifulness [sic], of hidden local treasures," he says.

The former Rosa's Mexicano site has been completely gutted with a new zinc-topped bar hung with copper lights, a curved panel of bi-fold windows and banquet seating.

Under head chef Emlyn Thorrington, whose CV includes Stokehouse Melbourne, Libertine, Peasant, Cabiria, and more recently Spring, the menu is "simple and seasonal" with four or five mains plus a rotating special.

Lunch offers small plates such as burrata, heirloom tomatoes and anchovy grissini, Vietnamese chicken salad, a burger and a club sandwich.

Dinner will include mains such as roast duck, market fish, and plates for two, such as pot roast lamb shoulder or grilled OP rib steak with bearnaise sauce. Desserts include fig tarte tatin and lavender honey ice-cream, and summer fruits with meringue, vanilla cream and mango sherbert.

A wine list of around 36 wines will be on offer, with most bottles averaging about $50, along with a small cocktail list.

"It's very casual and designed to be affordable enough so locals come once a week rather than once every six months for a special occasion," Murchison says.

The Bounty will also be open for breakfasts with Toby's Estate coffee served from 6.30am and the breakfast grill firing up from 7am.

The Bounty will open on the morning of Wednesday, December 3.

The Bounty Restaurant & Bar, 6/165 Baroona Road, Rosalie, thebounty.com.au