Snack Man
Since re-opening Happy Boy in Fortitude Valley in August last year, Cameron and Jordan Votan have been toying with the idea of a neighbouring venue specialising in bite-sized Chinese eats. Enter Snack Man, a wine bar and eatery that celebrates the ‘Chinese food of the people’, focusing on flavoursome on-the-go-style eats using simple fresh ingredients. While Happy Boy and Greenglass focus heavily on Australian wines, Snack Man is taking a more continental approach, importing never-before-seen drops from natural and emerging winemakers and regions across the globe. The ever-changing selection will feature around 200 bottles and each week Cameron will curate his wine-wall highlights for those needing a little help deciding. Mixologist Jack Lio (ex-The Bowery) has come on board to lead the cocktail side, creating a rotating list of seasonal cocktails using some pretty ingenious techniques. On the food front, Snack Man certainly lives up to its name. Five bite-sized Chinese eats feature on the current soft-opening menu – crispy chicken ribs, barbecue chicken cha siu bao, and seasonal mushroom, prawn, and pork and prawn dumplings. From late January the full menu will be available, with portions allowing diners to work their way around the menu of 20–30 regional Chinese snacks.