Bada Bing posted to announce its closure, citing city roadworks as a major factor. Photo: Bada Bing/Instagram.
Canberra’s hospitality scene is undergoing plenty of change at the moment. Terra had its fans terra-fied (sorry, not sorry) when it abruptly announced it was closing before reopening the next week further down the street.
Damien Brabender is selling OTIS after a car accident. The iconic G-Spot food truck in Gungahlin announced their closure after a whopping 24 years. And Rabble Group recently announced its upmarket Italian restaurant Bada Bing will shut its doors for a while, although it’s teased it is working on something “fresh, flexible and in tune with where the city’s heading”.
While Bada Bing blamed ongoing roadworks, road closures and lower foot traffic in the city, they’re not the only ones rethinking high-end concepts.
Barton fine-dining wine bar Vincent also announced its final service would be on 19 July. But, unlike the mysterious Bada Bing, Vincent has been more forthcoming about the next steps.
Hanna Kim, owner of Vincent Restaurant, told Region she would close Vincent and open Muk Bar in August. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
Vincent owner Hanna Kim said she and her husband chef Minjun Kim have been thinking about making a change for a while.
“The trends in Canberra’s food scene have changed a lot in the last decade,” Hanna told Region.
“We want to do something more casual; Canberrans want an experience rather than something fancy right now.”
Hanna and Minjun are planning to replace Vincent with Muk Bar in the same Barton location in early August. The Korean concept bar will draw on the heritage and love of Korea’s late-night food and drink scene.
“We are a Korean team here, so we know how to make Korean food really good! Often in Canberra we see the same dishes – kimchi and fried chicken – but we want to introduce a new side of Korean food to Canberra,” Hanna said.
“Anju is a style of food designed for drinks. In Korea, we always have food whenever we’re drinking beer or soju. So the menu will be dishes to share while you drink.”
Vincent will undergo minor renovations to lighten up the space from fine dining wine bar to casual Korean bar. Photo: Lucy Ridge.
Muk Bar is a cheeky play on the Korean trend of mukbang, which roughly translates as ‘eating broadcast’. The trend shows people eating different foods on internet videos, which has played a part in popularising Korean food.
Hanna said she was shocked when she first arrived in Australia to see people drinking alcohol without eating food at the same time.
In Korea, restaurants and cafes are open late and you can always get food with your drinks. Hanna’s hoping to introduce some of that convivial shared eating and drinking culture to Canberra – in a perfect location for after-work drinks.
The drinks menu will centre on modern soju-based cocktails, drawing inspiration from what is popular among Seoul’s younger drinking crowd at the moment. Hanna’s love of wine will still shine through – the wine list at Vincent was top notch, after all!
After a decade of award-winning fusion fine dining, it’s exciting to see Hanna and Minjun taking a risk on something new and showcasing their heritage. It’s further proof of how dynamic Canberra’s hospitality scene can be. Hopefully locals will get behind Muk Bar’s new menu.
“It’s not just us,” Hanna said. “Lots of small businesses are struggling at the moment. So we thought now is the time to do something different. I’m quite confident!”
Follow Vincent on Facebook and Instagram to find out more about when Muk Bar will open. Vincent’s final service will be on 19 July.
