Cutler

Cutler is the flagship restaurant of chef Andrew McConnell and partner Jo McGann, opened in 2009 as Cutler & Co in a converted metalworks factory on Gertrude Street in Fitzroy, Melbourne's first suburb. Part of the Trader House group, it recently dropped the "& Co" to become simply Cutler, but the ethos of refined, simple, hospitable dining is unchanged. It remains one of Melbourne's benchmark fine diners, serving spontaneous, seasonal modern-Australian cooking across a dining room and bar.

The non-alcoholic program is a real one, not an afterthought. Broadsheet describes it as "a fine diner with a stellar booze-free offering," pointing to alcohol-free beers from the likes of Upflow and Sobah, wine alternatives by NON, and a healthy list of alcohol-free cocktails. No & Low Life catalogues the full range as alcohol-free beer, alcohol-free sparkling, red and white wine, aromatic wine alternatives, alcohol-free spritzes and RTDs, and house mocktails, rating the venue 5 out of 5 for its no-and-low offering.

The room sits in the former factory space on the corner of Gertrude and Napier Streets, with a dining room, a bar and outdoor options. Cutler serves dinner Wednesday to Saturday from 5:30pm until late and opens for all-day Sunday dining from noon.

The scale of the alcohol-free list is what separates this from a fine-dining room that simply has something. Pub With No Booze, an Australian guide written specifically for non-drinkers, calls Cutler & Co the Grande Dame of Gertrude Street fine dining and notes that after nearly fifteen years as the flagship of Andrew McConnell's stable it has stayed at the front of what is new — and that it does not let alcohol-free drinkers down either, with a list of close to twenty well-curated options.

Twenty is a meaningful number. A restaurant can put three mocktails on a card and call it a programme; twenty options requires stock, storage, staff training and someone whose job it is to keep the list current. It also means a non-drinker at a long dinner can drink differently across four courses instead of ordering the same sweet thing twice and giving up. That is the practical difference between being catered for and being accommodated.