First Look: Cleo is Melbourne’s new summer hotspot replacing rooftop bar Mid Air

After a brief 10-month tenure, Melbourne’s buzziest sky-high restaurant of last summer, Mid Air, shut its doors in September. But the rooftop spot at boutique hotel Melbourne Place wasted no time lying dormant.

Located 12 floors above Russell Street in the city, it reopens on Saturday as Cleo, billed as a more casual hangout with a core focus on drinks alongside Mediterranean-leaning skewers, raw seafood, grilled meat and mezze.

When asked why Mid Air was so short-lived, Hyde Melbourne Place general manager Jodi Brown said, “The layout just wasn’t functional enough in our eyes to really maximise that space.”

Online comments and diner reviews of Mid Air, though, focused on slow service and high prices, issues that didn’t seem to resolve with time.

Brown says that in replacing Mid Air, “we wanted to use the opportunity to refresh and revamp the rooftop to allow us to create a more functional space that would allow a larger capacity”.

Gone are the couches overlooking Melbourne’s high rises, framed by the building’s distinctive circular “eyes”, replaced by additional dining tables and chairs. More seating was also added to the dining room, allowing 120 patrons to use the inside-outside venue.

Touches of terracotta throughout accentuate the existing tiled flooring, while jarrah timber panelling, draped linen curtains and lush greenery lean into the European summer vibes.

“When you peel that roof back, it does feel like you could be sitting on the Mediterranean, but right in the middle of Melbourne,” Brown adds.

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Cleo joins a spate of new bars in Melbourne, including several rooftops in the city. There’s the Japanese-inspired Disuko, 400 metres away, and the revamped Waterside Hotel on King Street, which has several outdoor decks and balconies.

The hotel connected to Cleo also rebranded as Hyde Melbourne Place, following its acquisition by Accor’s Ennismore Hotel Group in May.

Downstairs lies Portuguese restaurant Marmelo alongside moody basement bar Mr Mills, while at the building’s apex, Cleo offers a relaxed mezze-style menu from breakfast through to dinner. The kitchen is led by head chef Jordan Clavaron, whose resume spans the likes of hatted venues Cutler, Society, Lucia and, most recently, Poodle.

A newly added wood oven turns out fresh flatbread, ideal for pairing with house dips. Choose from Persian feta labne with zaatar, or matbucha, a spicy, garlicky Moroccan dip made with slow-roasted tomato and red capsicum.

Oysters are sourced from across the country adhering to seasonality, while Westholme wagyu appears thrice on the opening line-up: raw in a harissa and pine nut tartare; grilled and paired with the smoky, Balkan red capsicum relish known as ajvar; and ground in koftas served with labne and a thwack of zhoug, the piquant coriander and chilli-based Yemeni hot sauce.

Tying into the southern European theme, ingredients such as pistachio, sumac and pomegranate are seen across both dishes and drinks.

And while drinks are front and centre, sommelier and beverage operations manager Matthew Jensen (ex-Vue de Monde, Farmer’s Daughters) says this doesn’t mean overly fussy cocktails or wines you can’t pronounce.

“For me, if you want really strange cocktails, things you might never see, you’d go to Caretakers Cottage, or Bouvardia around the corner,” he says. “That’s not what we’re trying to replicate here. We want to be something that’s not confronting ... I love [those bars], but sometimes … it can be a little bit challenging for people.”

Still, there’s a milkshake maker behind the bar to add “fluff” to fruity cocktails built for summer afternoons, such as a pineapple cobbler-inspired number.

Jensen’s riff on the Pina Colada – familiar but with a dash of creativity – sees clarified pineapple and lime juice meet the French aperitif Lillet Blanc. Lillet also makes its way into the house spritz with Campari, lemon myrtle honey, cucumber and a splash of Zonzo Estate’s pistachio spritz.

“Melbourne is renowned for phenomenal bars, some of the best in the world … but we can also be a bit set in our ways,” says Jensen. “The idea is that there are things that you recognise but not in a traditional format.”

As for wines, the list has breadth without being intimidating, spanning Victorian regions such as Heathcote, Gippsland, Geelong and the Mornington Peninsula, plus a couple of drops from McLaren Vale and a smattering of European varietals for those wanting to push the boat out a little further.

From January, bottomless brunch with live music will happen each Saturday, while hotel guests also have access to an upscale Saturday morning pilates class followed by LED face masks and a breakfast spread.

There will be plenty of action throughout the summer, too. The rooftop will host live entertainment, including regular DJ sets every Friday through to Sunday, and extra entertainment during events like the Australian Open and the Grand Prix.

Cleo opens on Saturday, December 13 at level 12, 130 Russell Street, Melbourne, cleomelbourne.com.au

Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily