Bar Privé occupies the upper floor of a heritage-listed bank on Queen Street and trades on the kind of restraint that has lately gone missing from Melbourne's cocktail bars. The 40-seat room is dim, low-ceilinged and almost entirely soundtracked by a vinyl-only playlist that runs from Sade to Sault.

The drinks list is short — 14 cocktails, an aperitif menu and a tightly edited collection of Cognacs. The vermouth Martinis arrive on a side table with a fresh-cut twist; the Manhattans use a house-aged rye blend.

Owner Sam Ottavi says the brief was 'a hotel bar in a city without enough hotel bars'. Privé opens nightly from 4pm.