Meatmaiden's Neil Hamblen takes over Bar Nacional

When Neil Hamblen took over the former Little Hunter site to open Meatmaiden in 2014, he assumed he'd inherit the basement restaurant's Josper oven along with it. But when he got the keys to open his American barbecue restaurant, there was no sign of the charcoal grill. Little Hunter's former owners, celebrity chef Pete Evans among them, had taken it to star in the kitchen of their next venture, Bar Nacional in Docklands.

In a weird twist of fate ("I swear I'm not stalking Pete Evans," he jokes), Hamblen took over the Collins Square restaurant a few weeks ago, and in the process finally taking possession of the missing Josper.

Yet, despite the long-awaited reunion, Hamblen isn't sure if there's a place for the oven, or even which direction he wants Bar Nacional to take.

"I don't think we want to do another Meatmaiden or Meatmother-style concept here," he says. "Right now, we're just trying to figure out what's going to work best in this space."

The restaurant's Docklands location, amid corporate offices, complicates the offering, says Hamblen.

"Right now, it functions as a cafe during the week, it might do a bit of tapas during the evening, but then there's a massive influx of people coming through on a Friday night for after-work drinks. So, we're just trying to problem-solve all this at the moment."

Hamblen is working with Adelaide-based architects and interior designers studio -gram on the rebrand. They hope to have Bar Nacional 2.0 up and running by April, but until then it'll be business as usual. Stay tuned.

Open Mon-Fri 7.30am-10pm

727 Collins Street, Melbourne, barnacional.com.au