Friends of Jimmy Watson’s formed as Carlton icon turns 90

Few addresses in Melbourne carry the cultural weight of 333 Lygon St, Carlton. Home to Jimmy Watson’s Wine Bar since 1935, the site has been at the centre of Melbourne’s food, wine, and social life for nine decades.

Now, as the institution celebrates its 90th anniversary in 2025, a new community group – the Friends of Jimmy Watson’s (FOJW) – has been launched to preserve and promote its extraordinary legacy.

FOJW was an initiative of Peter Camm and Paul Tasca, both from Carlton.

The group’s aims are threefold: to celebrate founder Jimmy Watson’s pioneering role as the operator of Australia’s first wine bar; to honour the Watson family’s stewardship of the business, particularly Allan Watson’s bold realisation of the Robin Boyd-designed expansion in 1963; and to raise awareness of the enduring importance of the Jimmy Watson Memorial Trophy, Australia’s pre-eminent red wine award.

“Jimmy Watson’s isn’t just a wine bar, it’s an Australian cultural icon,” FOJW member and Carlton resident of 25 years Franco Trobbiani said. “This is a place that taught Melbourne how to eat, drink, and gather. Our group is about ensuring that story is shared widely and continues to inspire.”

The FOJW plans to work closely with the Watson family to jointly stage events commencing early 2026, at 333 Lygon St, including guided tours and dinners in partnership with the Robin Boyd Foundation, themed dinners/ lunches with past trophy-winning winemakers, and collaborations with Melbourne’s major food and wine festivals.

A busy calendar is already taking shape. This November and December coincides with planned celebrations of the 63rd Jimmy Watson Memorial Trophy and the 90th anniversary of the bar. Looking further ahead, FOJW plans to seek funding support for a documentary film on the Watson family’s 90-year contribution to Carlton, produced by the team behind Lygon Street: Si Parla Italiano, two tap productions.

The story of Jimmy Watson’s is inseparable from the story of Carlton itself. When Jimmy opened his bar in 1935, it was a radical idea: a public space dedicated to appreciating Australian wine, offered alongside simple food in a convivial setting.

Its rise coincided with the postwar transformation of Lygon St by Italian migrants, whose espresso bars and trattorias introduced Melbourne to European ways of eating and drinking. Together, they helped define the street’s reputation as the city’s culinary heart.

After Jimmy’s sudden death in February 1962, his son Allan honoured his vision by commissioning celebrated architect Robin Boyd to design a new home for the wine bar and new bistro. The resulting modernist building – with its striking vertical windows echoing the “333” address – became both a hospitality destination and an architectural landmark.

Inside, Watson’s became a gathering place for Melbourne’s thinkers, artists and politicians, from the Angry Penguins circle of Sidney Nolan and Joy Hester to academics, journalists, and everyday locals. It was a place where ideas flowed as freely as the wine.

Today, the venue remains in the Watson family hands, offering a mix of tradition and innovation – from the historic courtyard to the contemporary rooftop terrace. With the formation of the Friends of Jimmy Watson’s, its past and future will be celebrated with equal passion.

Jimmy Watson’s has always been about more than wine,” Mr Tasca said. “It’s about community, conversation and culture. Ninety years on, it’s still showing Melbourne how it’s done. •