Serial Dublin-based restaurateur John Farrell has transformed a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it coffee shop at the entrance to Drury Street Carpark into an Aladdin’s Cave of a wine bar boasting big-flavoured small plates and some of the best people-watching pews in town.
The 30-seater stools-only space feels both cave-like thanks to rough-edged whitewashed ceilings and roomy thanks to one wall of full-length windows, and features a choice of barside stools overlooking the open kitchen and bar, window counters looking onto Drury Street or a central communal table for conviviality. Jars of home made pickles and ferments bring a blast of colour as does the bright signage displaying a rotating choice of wines on tap.
The wine bar’s name and its exterior-wall tagline - ‘I love you so much’ - are borrowed from a landmark mural in Austin, Texas, created by local musician Amy Cook as a public decoration of romantic love. Farrell’s entrepreneurial flair hinges on his magpie-like approach to borrowing such details from international urban scenes, bringing a blast of modern Mexico city to sister city-centre restaurant 777, American diner-chic to Dillingers in Ranelagh and Italian-American retro glamour to his much-missed Luna restaurant.
With Amy Austin, Farrell is riding the new wave of Millennial-friendly Dublin wine bars offering food for sharing and wines for exploring. Here, an extensive range of wines on tap and by the bottle are supplied by Winelab (forward-thinking importers who have single-handedly introduced high-quality wines on tap to a growing cohort of Dublin restaurants). This eco-friendly delivery system reduces transportation and packaging costs, and those savings are passed on to customers with a quaffable house wine from Languedoc at just €6 a glass – or €4.50 on a Monday or Tuesday when a 25% discount applies to all wines (a great deal if paired with the daily 5pm–6.30pm offer of any two plates for €23).
Of a dozen interesting choices on tap, just a couple of curiosities cost more than €10 a glass, such as Hobo Wines’ ‘Folk Machine’ Pinot Noir from California (€13), while a glass of El Bandarra vermut is brilliant value at just €5. A further list by the bottle reaches heady heights for those with deep pockets and an appreciation of the wines of Burgundy and California. Alternatively, manager Rose O’Toole (formerly mixologist at the wonderful Aimsir in Kildare) is just the woman to mix you a mean negroni, while an unusually extensive selection of non-alcoholic beers and wines broaden the appeal even further.
Chefs Essa Fakhry (previously head chef at 777) and Matt Raynor (previously sous chef at South African restaurant Kudu) make good use of seasonal Irish produce in small plates and sharing boards. Think cold plates like creamy Toonsbridge burrata paired with sweet crown prince pumpkin purée, a punchy basil pesto and crunchy toasted seeds, or hot plates like juicy Dublin Bay prawns served skewered, battered and fried with garlic toum (a light Lebanese egg-free mayo) and flavours of bisque and dill.
Lunch is served Thursday to Saturday and features the likes of an open pastrami rueben on rye sourdough or oxtail ragu with crispy polenta, Parmesan cream and roasted leek.
While bookings are taken (including exclusive hire for private parties), the commitment to keeping seats free for walk-ins makes Amy Austin as attractive for a spontaneous catch-up or wind-down as it is for a full-blown meal. A welcome addition to the city’s choice of drinking holes and dining options.
