The Flour Factory unveils new name and colourful new look

After pouring its last gin and tonic in April, long-running city bar The Flour Factory has gone to Rio.

Opening mid-May, the multi-level Queen Street venue will reopen as Arara, a South American-themed bar and restaurant from the Sneakers & Jeans hospitality hombres featuring colours and flavours as bold and boisterous as Brazil’s iconic Carnival.

Andy Freeman, who owns the Sneakers & Jeans bar empire with Lachlan Howarth, said The Flour Factory venue was due for a refresh after close to a decade.

And it looks like Arara has had a serious lick of paint.

The colourful addition to the Sneakers & Jeans portfolio, which also includes multi-level microbrewery Pirate Life Perth and whiskey bar Varnish on King, will have bars, a rooftop patio, laneway gardens and a new 60-seater restaurant, Tupi, spread over two floors.

After working at The Brisbane Hotel and Santini Bar and Grill, Brazilian-born chef Diego Machado de Mello will serve up South American-styled dishes in the new-look heritage-listed building.

The Tupi menu includes, for example, casquinha de siri (Brazilian crab cake), acaraje (prawn, peanut, okra and black-eyed beans dough), costela (short ribs) and South America’s famous picanha, or rump cap steak with bacon farofa, garlic salsa and okra.

De Mello will also dish up the Brazilian cheesecake Romeo and Julieta (with guava jam) and his grandmother’s banana pie with cinnamon ice cream.

The Arara bar menu is more snack-driven, with empanadas, arepas and choripan — better known as South America’s peerless version of the humble hot dog starring smoky pork sausage and chimichurri sauce in a baguette.

Cocktails focus on regional classics, including pisco sours, caipirinha and rabo de galo, plus some given a Sneakers & Jeans twist.

De Mello said his menu showcases “unique memories and intimate family recipes, such as my take on the picanha and my grandmother’s beloved torta de banana dish”.

“It is good food cooked with real passion,” he added. “Our menu is designed to share and enjoy with friends.

“It’s South American conversational dining that’s created to be enjoyed by all … while being surrounded by the eclectic and energetic ambiance of Arara.”

Freeman said he was looking forward to launching his ninth venue.

“Arara is a real escape into the Americas,” he said. “It’s a rambunctious, boisterous and colourful venue that brings something entirely new to the Perth scene.

“The multi-level offering is designed as a venue for everyone, from a midweek dinner to an all-out celebration, all accompanied with a caipirinha or pisco sour, of course.”

Arara is due to mix its first pisco sour the week commencing May 15, with an official opening party on May 19.