Rubi Bar Restaurant
It came. And it went. Such a shame for this beautifully designed establishment by the beach. A venue which was a great addition to Fitzroy St, St Kilda. Created on the site that was once, long-standing, Pelican tapas bar & restaurant.
Pelican stood vacant for a while after numerous attempt to re-boot it to its glory days. Once upon a time you couldn’t get a seat for breakfast on the weekend and it was a great place to hang on Sunday afternoons sipping chardonnay and eating mini plates of Mediterranean staples.
Then came an ambitious player that had a vision to create something new, not only for the area but for himself, as the owner had two other well established businesses serving awesome breakfast & lunch offerings elsewhere in the inner suburbs. This however was to be a cocktail lounge and tapas restaurant. The building’s inner was gutted and a stunning design fell in to place. The locals were so excited for what was coming.
Sadly, Rubi were hit by the Covid-19 pandemic shut downs of 2020 while trying to open. They stuck to their vision for the new venue and people flocked there in the beginning. Though, it was not to last long with more shutdowns and with the owners & management not diversifying to take away options throughout the day.
When there was opportunity to reopen properly, they struggled to find the right chef (although initially the short term chef that created the menu was outstanding). They found it difficult to get the right staff which had the needed personality and selling skills that a good eating establishment requires. People tried it but quickly turned away. St Kilda locals are fickle like that. You get one chance, maybe two, and then they will not return - word also spreads fast in this neighbourhood.
Tragically, there was definitely hope to fix the troubles at Rubi but if you don’t adapt you simply will not survive. There were many that wished the venue was theirs but in the end it failed and closed down.
A new owner was lucky to score this tremendous fit out for next to nothing, made some modifications, and it reopened in 2022 as Mukka 2.0. The new owners have a well established smaller restaurant in Fitzroy and are well known for their quality Indian delicacies.
It’s a tough place to operate while St Kilda undergoes it’s slow, but magnificent, transformation. let’s hope they can get through. We would hate for this to be another loss for small business. Stay tuned!