Australia’s acclaimed pioneer of vegan dining will offer Sydneysiders their first taste of her Mediterranean-inspired plant-based cuisine.
Shannon Martinez, the powerhouse behind two of Australia’s most celebrated plant-based dining destinations, Smith & Daughters (Collingwood) and Lona Misa (South Yarra), will join mixologist Andrea Gualdi to lead the evolution of Alibi Bar & Dining, in the chef’s first Sydney venture.
Located on site at Ovolo Hotel on Woolloomooloo’s historic Finger Wharf, Alibi will relaunch in late January with a brand new plant-based Mediterranean-inspired offering, set inside a newly refurbished ‘indoor-alfresco’ dining room.
A first for Sydney
“I’m thrilled to be part of Alibi’s new direction,” Martinez said. “This will be my first project in Sydney, and I look forward to bringing a taste of plant-based Latin cuisine to the bay side and giving Sydneysiders their own version of Smith & Daughters. I love working with Ovolo; our venture in Melbourne, Lona Misa, holds an extremely special place in my heart and I’m super excited to be able to continue this relationship in a new part of the country”.
“I look forward to bringing a taste of plant-based Latin cuisine to the bay side and giving Sydneysiders their own version of Smith & Daughters.”
In an announcement on Instagram yesterday, Martinez summed up her feelings about the collaboration in characteristic pithy style: “I can’t bloody wait.” Devotees greeted the news with an outpouring of enthusiasm for this expansion of the beloved creative’s culinary influence.
View this post on Instagram
Menu and vibe
Diners can expect a passionately crafted menu that leans heavily on Martinez’s Spanish heritage, implemented by award-winning executive chef Jiwon Do (formerly Hippopotamus Restaurant & Bar, Wellington).
Alongside Martinez’s signature dishes will be a drinks menu curated by renowned mixologist Andrea Gualdi featuring a collection of cocktails that pay homage to Mediterranean G&Ts and spritzes, high tea cocktails, zero proof options, and a range of beers. Wines will be sustainably sourced from smaller Australian producers using Mediterranean varieties, with around a third of the wine list set to be vegan friendly.
Designed by award-winning interior design and architecture studio, Luchetti Krelle, the enchanting glasshouse structure exudes a sense of natural theatre, and brings the outdoors to an indoor environment with thriving greenery, patterned mosaics and rattan seating.
Ovolo’s plant-based evolution
Ovolo Hotel Group’s foray into vegan and vegetarian cuisine began with the Alibi site back in 2018, which soon established itself as a fine dining mainstay, attracting vegan and non-vegan foodies alike, and scoring coveted nominations in the Nourish Vegan Awards in 2020 and 2022. This was followed by the group’s ‘Year of the Veg’ campaign in which plant-based menus were adopted across all its hotel restaurants for an initial 365 days from October 2020–21. As of this year, Ovolo become the world’s first designer hotel collection to commit to a vegetarian-led offering in perpetuity.
Speaking about the pledge in February, Ovolo’s Group Creative Culinary Partner Ian Curley said, “Our move to vegetarian dining has been even more successful than we anticipated, and we now find ourselves part of a new wave of plant-based pioneers.”
Images supplied
