Roll Up With Sandy Feet to Avalon’s New Wine Bar Randy’s, the Fun and Fast Younger Sibling of Bar Elvina
Photos courtesy of Steven Woodburn
Helmed by hospitality legends Andy Emerson and Jesse McTavish, the breezy wine bar in former sandwich shop Sandy’s is serving show-stopping Moreton Bay bug buns, obscure wines and beachy cocktails.
A new venture by the owners of Bar Elvina, Randy’s is the new kid on the block, moving into the ground-floor space previously occupied by the group’s much-loved sandwich bar Sandy’s.
Owners Andy Emerson (ex-co-owner of The Passage, Acme, Bar Brosé and Prince of York), Jesse McTavish (ex-North Bondi Fish and co-founder of Top Paddock and The Kettle Black) and Nick Musgrave initially wanted the space to serve as a sandwich shop by day and a wine bar by night.
“Sadly, it took us 11 months to obtain our liquor licence and, when it was granted, we deeply yearned for our wine bar concept to come to life,” Emerson tells Broadsheet. So they made it a dedicated drinking space. “Randy’s is the adult version of Sandy’s. Fun, fast, loud and refined. Given the intimate space, it can become a little Randy.”
The casual bar is more freewheeling than its upstairs sibling, requiring no bookings or commitment. Seating a total of 26 guests, the space transitions from breezy lunches to loud and fast dinners set to the backdrop of techno, hip-hop and Afrobeats. The size of the venue sets the tone for the service too, allowing for personalised touches like impromptu food and wine tastings.
The menu is compact and ever-evolving, made up of 10 small plates designed to be eaten with hands or chopsticks and heavy on summery seafood dishes befitting of the location. There’s a cold larder bar where oysters and sashimi are prepared to order alongside hand-filleted sardines in lemon and olive oil, fried baguettes with smoked butter, and burrata with heirloom tomatoes hand-picked from the kitchen garden on the terrace.
The show stopper is a "bug bun" that Emerson describes as a lobster roll on steroids, with Moreton Bay bug meat and Marie Rose cocktail sauce on a house-made milk bun.
The wine list leans on lo-fi styles from all over the world, shining a light on lesser-known varietals (think blaufrankisch, zweigelt and weissburgunder from Austria, txakolina from Basque Country and carignan from McLaren Vale).
“We love exploring and discovering unique varietals, locations and producers … We’ll do a tasting and lean towards the most obscure and unique small allocation wines, so you might find the list changing daily,” says Emerson.
The cocktails are aperitif style with a heavy citrus backbone, adorned with edible garnishes from the terrace garden. An oyster shell martini (made with Never Never Oyster Shell Gin) is a crowd favourite, served with an accompanying freshly shucked oyster.
From the food and cocktails to the interior design by Julia Sullivan of Caswell Group, Randy’s is a beach bar through and through, complete with rattan light shades, pink marble counters and bar tops, and west-facing canteen-style windows that let in spectacular views of the sunset.
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