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Just Open: White Rabbit Bar, Civic

Natasha Rudra

Nick Tuckwell at White Rabbit
Nick Tuckwell at White RabbitRohan Thomson

Longtime Northbourne Avenue bar Kremlin has given way to something whimsical, pretty and a little bit sexy.

White Rabbit is the latest bar to open its doors in Canberra - an Alice-in-Wonderland themed creation with a tea party vibe, surrounded by flowers and green foliage.

It's a dessert and cocktail bar that will specialise in late night treats.

Cocktails at White Rabbit Bar - Alice Be Curious
Cocktails at White Rabbit Bar - Alice Be CuriousSupplied
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There will be table service - a rare sight in Canberra these days - with many of the cocktails made in front of guests at their tables. They're served in pretty gilt-edged teacups and saucers and dressed with flowers.

Pastry chef Adrian Peak, formerly of Waters Edge and Pulp Kitchen, will be in charge of the desserts.

Owner Nick Tuckwell shut the doors on Kremlin in mid September and had just two weeks to transform it into a glamorous new venue (he laughs that it was "something that resembled The Block at the end"). But the concept of White Rabbit had been on his mind well beforehand.

Teapots for cocktails at White Rabbit
Teapots for cocktails at White RabbitRohan Thomson

"I've been thinking about White Rabbit for at least 12 months. I wanted a bar that would cater to women," he says. "Most of the venues in this town are male focused, whisky driven or speakeasies which are great venues but they don't cater for the female market."

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Tuckwell says the idea of a place to go for dressed up drinks and desserts is fairly unusual.

"Nowhere in Canberra has really specialised in alcohol and desserts. We'll have six desserts which change quite regularly, a mixture of hot and cold, souffles and cakes of the day. Everything quite heavily themed to Alice in Wonderland," he says.

The Mad Hatter cocktail at White Rabbit Bar in Canberra.
The Mad Hatter cocktail at White Rabbit Bar in Canberra.Supplied

There will still be music - the DJ table is now an antique ivory French cabinet - but it won't be a nightclub. Instead, plush banquettes invite you to sit, sip a cocktail and have a good conversation. Vases full of flowers line a cabinet and a wall of greenery fills the space above the bar. There's a white picket fence along the wall, a floral archway leading to the loos, and smart black-and-white patterned pouffes.

A collection of glass-fronted cabinets along one wall will act as a locked vault for personal drinks - you can own a cabinet to store a special bottle or your favourite wine, which will be brought out for you whenever you visit.

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And when you come in the front door, look up for a fantastical glimpse down the rabbit hole. Time for a girls' night out.

White Rabbit is at 65 Northbourne Avenue, Civic. Opening a new venue of your own? Tell us food.wine@canberratimes.com.au

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Default avatarNatasha Rudra is an online editor at The Australian Financial Review based in London. She was the life and entertainment editor at The Canberra Times.

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