Kirk's Public Bar under construction

Chef Ian Curley and restaurateurs Con Christopoulos and Josh Brisbane have started digging a big hole in the ground to make way for an Aussie-style pub in Little Bourke Street, beside their Hardware Lane corner venues Kirk's Wine Bar (downstairs) and French Saloon (upstairs).

Most recently a tent shop, the site was once home to Kirk's Bazaar Hotel, circa 1840. Kirk's Public Bar is set to open mid-year – a casual joint where you can grab a pot and a pie.

They're still working out exactly what it's going to look like – designer Wayne Finschi (Il Fornaio, Stokehouse) is on the case.

It'll be two-storey space: a "cellar bar" connected to Kirk's Wine Bar downstairs and an informal upstairs dining space for about 60 that Curley is adamant won't be fancy: "I just want people to drop in and have a beer."

That's not all. The group will soon take over the Sushi Masa site at the top of Bourke Street, where they're planning a diner-style concept with in-house butcher Simon Poole that may be open up to 22 hours a day. It's going to be meat focused but not a steakhouse, says Curley.