A perfect pairing: meet the couple behind the newest bar in Box Hill

Ella and James are the friendly couple behind Bar Nearby, just down the road from Box Hill train station.

When I visited the new wine bar on a Friday afternoon, two women are sitting out the front enjoying a wine. An elderly local pops in to check out the new spot she’s been hearing about and immediately strikes up an animated conversation with Ella. In one corner a mother and son chat quietly. 

“We want it to feel like people are coming over to our house,” Ella told the Eastern Melburnian.

The menu has been curated with that in mind, offering everything from a schooner of Carlton to a piña colada and a glass of Albariño.

🍕 No kitchen, but dine-in available🍔

With no on-site kitchen, customers are encouraged to order takeaway food straight to the bar.

“Without being too preachy, it’s sort of about giving something back to the community, with a lot of local favourite spots suggested on the menu,” James told The Eastern Melburnian.

“We didn’t want it to feel too stuffy, so the takeaway packaging everywhere helps keep it relaxed.” 

The homey atmosphere can be credited to the fact that Ella and James do, in fact, live together and have been working side by side in hospitality for the better part of eight years.

How it all began…

The pair met in 2017 at Melbourne CBD late-opener Loch and Key, a noted hospo knock-off bar. It was 5am and James had just finished work. Ella was nearing the end of a night out with her friends, and the pair “gravitated towards each other”.

A few Facebook messages later, they accidentally timed their first date on Valentine’s Day, bar-hopping in the city before ending up at Stalactites.

Ella is something of eastside hospitality royalty - she grew up working at her parents’ venues The Peddler and Red Cup Café (just across the road from Bar Nearby), before spending the last four years running Mitcham Social with James.

They’re not kids anymore 

She laughed at the full-circle moment - having once served 10-year-olds at Red Cup alongside their parents, she now sees them ordering drinks at Bar Nearby.

The couple admitted it was nerve-wracking striking out on their own, and that they felt a touch of imposter syndrome.

“You’re putting yourself out there - your whole personality - and you just hope that people like what you have to offer,” Ella said.

The seasonal cocktail menu changes six times a year, and the wine list is a well-balanced mix of local and international selections. 

If you like piña colada… 🍹

One sentimental favourite is the Peregrine Saddleback Pinot Noir from Central Otago in New Zealand, a nod to the year they spent working at Botswana Butchery in Queenstown.

James is a sucker for their piña colada, and also recommends the Le Vin du Rosier Grenache/Zinfandel chilled red from Fin Wines in the Yarra Valley.

Ella’s favourite drink on the menu is the Pimm’s Cup: “It’s such a classic. It’s got a house-made strawberry syrup in it, which gives it a bit more body. It’s refreshing.”

At the end of a long night shaking up cocktails and chatting with locals, a pat on the back goes a long way.

“When we get that thank you when people leave, that never gets old,” James said.

Located at 1115 Whitehorse Road in Box Hill and open Wednesdays and Thursdays from 4PM to 11PM, 2PM to 11PM on Fridays and Saturdays and 2PM to 8PM on Sundays.