Few chefs sustain both longevity and momentum. Chef, author and broadcaster Karen Martini is one of them, now entering a new chapter with Bar Carolina—by Michael Harden.
Three decades in, Sapountsis and Martini’s partnership is as potent as ever. Image: Peter Tarasiuk.
It speaks volumes that, more than 35 years into her career, Karen Martini retains the vision and enthusiasm to try something new. With a CV that emphatically proves the point, Martini, who says she “dreams in flavour”, approaches her work more as calling than profession.
The cooking bug bit at age 15 after work experience at Mietta’s with Jacques Reymond. She worked in a hospital kitchen before landing roles at the groundbreaking Tansy’s and the Kent Hotel (names that defined Melbourne dining in the ’90s) then as head chef at the Melbourne Wine Room and Sydney’s Icebergs, two of the most talked-about rooms of their era. Martini has since become a fixture in Australian food culture as a much-loved TV chef and newspaper columnist; written a series of best-selling cookbooks (her 900-page tome Cook among them); experienced success—and the occasional failure, notably the short-lived Hero at ACMI—with her own restaurants; and consulted for businesses ranging from the Sydney Opera House to Carlton’s King & Godfree.
The latest venture is a takeover of an existing business, South Yarra’s Bar Carolina, with life and work partner Michael Sapountsis and friend Rabih Yanni, owner of the nearby Botanical Hotel.
September with a large all-Martini, all-Italian menu. Two months later, they were awarded a hat.
Three-plus decades of experience cannot be discounted when achieving success in such a short time. Neither can the alchemy of a long-term partnership that is both personal and professional.
“Michael and I had different hospitality experiences to begin with—I’m in the kitchen, and he’s front-of-house— but one thing we’ve always had in common is a belief that what makes a great restaurant is personality.” It is a philosophy shaped by the greats. Martini cites her time at Tansy’s as particularly formative, describing the approach as “precise and beautiful, but with an appealing looseness that allowed customers to relax”.
Sapountsis, shaped by his own influences, speaks the same language. “We met at the Melbourne Wine Room. We weren’t partners to start with but I think we each recognised a kindred spirit—we both had the same keen curiosity,” Martini recalls. “Michael’s attitude has always been: we don’t need to do it exactly like that, let’s find our own path.”
“It’s never been about making a list or having a fixed idea about the type of restaurant we want to open next. We think about the kind of food we want to eat and the space we want to eat it in.
“The Italian expression of hospitality was in the bones
of the building and we felt an immediate affinity with that.”
“I think I’m up to my 11th or 12th restaurant launch over a period of 30 years,” says Martini. “But we’ve never taken over an existing business before. We didn’t even change the name because we realised that people would still refer to it as ‘the old Bar Carolina’ because it’s the kind of place that locals really embrace and it seemed right to connect with and continue that legacy.”
It began with a conversation. Restaurateur Joe Mammone, a friend and colleague who opened Bar Carolina in 2017, contacted Martini with the idea of some consulting work “to refresh some ideas”. Over the course of that meeting, Mammone realised Martini’s vision extended well beyond a brief, and they amicably parted ways.
“But as I left, I said to Joe: ‘if you ever think about selling, I absolutely love this site. The brand you’ve built and the legacy of the Italian restaurant on this corner is beautiful’,” she recalls. “The fact that Chris Connell— who designed Melbourne Wine Room, Hero and even our own house—had designed the space meant it was familiar to us and would need minimal changes.”
A few weeks later, Mammone took Martini and Sapountsis up on their offer. After bringing Yanni on board as partner, adding some wood-fired power to the kitchen, giving the dining room a lick of paint and moving some furniture around, they opened in the space we want to eat it in.
Essentially, we make restaurants we want to eat in,” she says. “All good restaurants have an emotional side and that’s what we felt with Bar Carolina. It had oil and pasta baked into the walls and a fierce loyalty among South Yarra locals.”
Bar Carolina can be read as part of the next stage in Martini’s career. She’s stepped back from TV commitments—though she has ideas for a show
exploring how maturity “has changed the way I cook and think about food”—and is releasing a new cookbook series this year. Consulting keeps her busy too, with ongoing commitments at Thyme at Alba Thermal Springs & Spa on the Mornington Peninsula and the upcoming multi-venue overhaul of King & Godfree.
“We’re really about old school hospitality where food, service and atmosphere all play equal parts,” she says.
“At Bar Carolina, the Italian expression of hospitality was in the bones of the building and we felt an immediate affinity with that. Restaurants are never just a business for me; the heart is there as much as the head. And I remember that there’s always something else to learn.”
Image: Chege Mbuthi