News / Food & Drink
Last supper served in Moreland Hotel’s iconic Roman dining room
Bistro to close for 12 months to undergo full refurbishment
Mark Phillips
FRIENDS, Romans, countrymen, put down your beers … for the fabled ancient Rome-inspired dining room of the Moreland Hotel is no more.
The last supper was served on Sunday night ahead of renovations that will produce a completely new look for a dining room that was like no other.
Now the big question that remains is what fate is in store for Brunswick’s most beloved imitation Michelangelo statue?
An historical mish-mash of ancient Rome and Renaissance Florence, with a towering replica of Michelangelo’s David as its centrepiece, the dining room gained cult status far and wide for its kitschy decor.
Apart from the Greek-style lettering of signage above the main entrance at the corner of Sydney and Moreland roads, there was not much stood out about the 135-year-old pub’s exterior. But once customers stepped inside the dining room, they were in another world.
While children enjoyed an indoor playground with slide and climbing equipment separated from the dining area by a mock Colosseum, their parents and other adults chowed down on chicken parmas and steak and chips amid faux marble columns and under a domed ceiling painted to imitate a summer sky.
If so inclined, they could gaze past David’s naked buttocks and through a mock triumphal arch out onto Sydney Road. Elsewhere, a fresco on a wall depicted idyllic rural scenes of ancient Rome.
But just as the Roman Empire eventually succumbed to the barbarian masses at its borders, time has been called on the Moreland’s bistro.
The pub’s owners, Australian Leisure and Hospitality Group, first flagged plans to renovate the dining room almost three years ago. The final meals were served on Sunday, and workers have begun dismantling the bistro while the gaming room and public bar continue to operate at the front.
The project will be overseen by commercial builders Five One Group and the refurbishment is expected be completed by April next year.
ALH operates more than 350 licensed venues around Australia and is part of the ASX-listed Endeavour Group, which also operates the Dan Murphy liquor chain.
The parent company did not respond to questions from Brunswick Voice about the fate of David, but did provide a statement confirming the renovation was going ahead.
“Our plans for the hotel focus on creating a contemporary and welcoming space that caters to the diverse needs of the Brunswick/Coburg community,” it said.
“We aim to offer a refreshed experience that appeals to a broader demographic while maintaining the warm, inviting atmosphere the Moreland Hotel is known for.”
The Moreland Hotel was built in 1889-90 by a Brunswick Mayor, Donald Fraser. Originally three-storeys, it was rebuilt as a double storey premises in 1913, and renovated again in 1934 and the mid-1970s.
More scenes from inside the Moreland Hotel dining room.
Legend has it that the bistro’s unique decor was designed to satisfy the whims of billionaire pub baron Bruce Mathieson, who still holds a large share of the Endeavour Group after it merged with ALH in 2004.
As first recounted by Broadsheet in 2019, Mathieson was inspired to bring a bit of Roman bling to Brunswickby a late-1990s visit to Las Vegas – the Forum shopping centre inside Caesar’s Palace casino, to be precise.
The multi-storey Forum has acres of marble moulded into columns, archways, fountains and, yes, a copy of Michelangelo’s David.
The Moreland Hotel’s more modest version was designed and built by a company that makes theatre sets. Lovingly detailed, it eschewed real marble for polystyrene and plastic painted to give it an “authentic” finish.
Whether the urban myth about Mathieson’s involvement is true or not, the makeover transformed what had been a rundown pub on the border of Brunswick and Coburg into a bona fide tourist attraction. 
The gaudy interior may not appeal to all tastes, but it had many fans who will lament its destruction, none more so than Brunswick West resident Hannah Garvan, who in 2022 launched a petition to save the dining room.
Garvan grew up in Canberra, but was drawn to the pub when she moved to Brunswick in her early-20s (her grandfather, Loreto ‘John’ York, was a councillor and Mayor of Brunswick in the 1970s and her father, Barry, grew up in the suburb).
She said anyone she had ever taken to the pub had always been blown away by the decor.
“I’ve visited there heaps of times and whenever I have people visiting from out of Melbourne or from a different part, I always take them there, because as soon as you walk in, it’s just a completely unique space,” she said.
“But also, I always thought that it sort of reflected the migrant community in Brunswick and the history of, like, Italian migration to Brunswick and, that’s something that I connect to a lot, because my dad grew up in Brunswick and he’s Maltese, and he always just told me about the diversity in Brunswick and that whole history.
“So I think it’s a really amazing space that just sort of reflects Brunswick and just feels really special and unique.”
To her great regret, Garvan did not become aware of the imminent closure of the bistro until it was too late to dine there for a final time.
She said the response to her petition, which was launched in November in 2022 and quickly gained almost 2000 signatures, showed how deeply others in Brunswick loved the room.
Endeavour Group said the refurbishment of the hotel would be respectful of its unique status.
“We understand the passion our local community has for the Moreland Hotel and its distinctive features, and are truly committed to the community and honouring their sentiments throughout the renovation process,” the company said.
The owners would not comment on the future of the statue of David, but Garvan has her own suggestions.
“It should definitely go to a community space in Brunswick.
“It shouldn’t be thrown out or sent to the tip; it probably shouldn’t even be sold privately.
“It should be donated to, I think, the Merri-bek Council or some Brunswick community organisation that can decide what the community wants to do with it.”
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