Meatworks

28-30 Ross St, South Melbourne 3205 (03) 9041 5727 or facebook.com/meatworksco

Meatworks is a pleasure palace for carnivores full of smoking, braising and slow-roasting. After endless research across the globe to find the best cooking methods, hospitality entrepreneur Lindsay Jones-Evans also hand-built his own 450kg in-house wood smoker – a practical display of his industrial engineering degree. Jones-Evans has meticulously renovated an old 1930’s panel beating garage warehouse into a 100-seat eatery. Meatworks has a ‘steampunk’ sensibility to it - a bright atrium feel by day, and moody, hip look by night. The refractory canteen feeling excites the visual senses and provides an acoustic ceiling, which ensures the surround sound system is subtle. “You have to appeal to the five senses; sight, sound, taste, smell and touch. If you leave one out or don’t incorporate it precisely, you won’t achieve the X factor,” says Jones-Evans. “And ensure the service and price is right.” Jones-Evans came to prominence when he created the brand Jones the Grocer, then, with his brother Ashley, The Victoria Room – both in Sydney. For Meatworks, he worked with Chef Travis Watson to create a menu that takes inspiration from meaty dishes from both Eastern and Western cuisines. Meatworks, the house of meat will include some old favorites like crusty meat pies cooked in ceramic dishes, smoked meats served on enamelware platters, Asian noodles topped with slow-cooked braised-beef, lamb, pork or chicken, to delectable smoked duck pancakes. “Meatworks offerings are not from any one province, just the best well travelled delicious meat dishes that continually inspire me,” says Jones-Evans. Meatworks is open Tuesday-Friday 11am-4pm and and Saturdays 10am-5pm, with hours to be extended in the new year.