High-profile brewer opens first Melbourne venue and there’s chops by the kilo and spanakopita lasagne

South Australian brewer Pirate Life touches down in Victoria this week with a rollicking restaurant and beer hall for 220 people in a former mechanics’ garage in South Melbourne. While there’ll be some common brewpub items, such as smoked and barbecued meats, the wood-fired kitchen is turning out items that go beyond the obvious.

“Mussels a la oven” is the humble name given to mussels cooked in a searing-hot cast-iron pan with a typical French medley of white wine, garlic and parsley, plus smoked fish stock made using the hearth.

Goat spring rolls, partly inspired by a Chiko roll, involve whole goat sourced from Bacchus Marsh that’s smoked and then braised for 15 hours. The meat is shredded and combined with salted cabbage for a beer-friendly snack.

Two fire-loving chefs jointly lead the kitchen: Maria Delengas, who was head chef at Adelaide’s acclaimed fire-driven Arkhé restaurant, and Nicolas Lopez, a Chilean-born chef whose career has skewed towards steakhouses and cooking over fire.

Delengas says her Greek heritage combined with Lopez’s skill in South American barbecue have resulted in winning dishes such as lamb forequarter chops, available by the kilo or half-kilo. Thinly sliced, they’re marinated overnight in parsley and onion, cooked very quickly and served with lots of lemon and chimichurri, a popular condiment for meat in Argentina.

Another cross-cultural collab is pickled octopus with ajo blanco, a sauce based on the Spanish soup of stale bread, almonds and garlic. A garnish of oregano nods to Delengas’ roots.

The building’s industrial bones are celebrated in the original paintwork and walls, and enhanced by the large oven and hearth of the open kitchen.

An express lunch menu with dishes designed to hit the table in 15 minutes is geared to the surrounding offices and shoppers at nearby South Melbourne Market. The standout is the spanakopita lasagne, which uses the same filling as the Greek pie but sandwiches it between two sheets of pasta instead of pastry.

This venue is Pirate Life’s fourth. The craft brewer began in Adelaide in 2014 and was quickly snapped up by Carlton & United Breweries (now owned by Asahi).

Pirate Life won’t be brewing at South Melbourne, but will send beer from its South Australian headquarters to fill the 11 beer taps in South Melbourne, including a special Market Street Lager exclusive to the venue. These will join predominantly Australian wines (the most expensive glass is $20) and four classic cocktails, including a South Side.

The opening comes at a tumultuous time for the craft beer industry, with many independent breweries closing because of the difficult economic and regulatory environment. Several are adding full-scale restaurants to diversify their businesses.

A retail shop at the front will sell merch and beer.

Open from March 14: Mon-Thu 11am-10pm, Fri-Sat 11am-late, Sun 11am-10pm.

139-145 Market Street, South Melbourne, piratelife.com.au