After Five Years, Nieuw Ruin Is Closing, but “V2” Is Already on the Cards

In 2021, Freo was a beer-lovers’ paradise. Then Nieuw Ruin came around with its 300-bottle wine list, unforgettable pie floater, and changing cast of top-tier kitchen talent.

At the time, owner Dimitri Rtshiladze told Broadsheet, “We just wanted a good little hang-out joint where we could drink good booze.”

What it became was much more than that: a mainstay on the Fremantle wine scene – and an incubator for young talent. It’s where Blaze Young had her first head chef role, for example.

It all comes to an end on Sunday March 15.

“We’ve come to the end of our lease in the building. We were looking down the barrel of signing on for another five years and just decided [not to],” says executive chef Young. “Nieuw Ruin was built in a beautiful 1850s cottage and there are a lot of limitations [that come along with that], so we decided that it might be time to close the doors and find a new space for what we want to do in the future.”

It’s looking like a new restaurant closer to Foxtrot Unicorn and Edward & Ida’s, which Rtshiladze owns and where Young is executive chef.

“I think it would just be really nice to bring all the venues closer together, so we’re in more of a central hub,” she says. “We’re hopefully bringing something new to the CBD or Northbridge, because we feel like it would really welcome another beautiful restaurant. We are looking at a few places currently, but nothing’s really in yet.”

The wait won’t be too long with Young saying “Nieuw Ruin V2 is going to be hopefully open before the end of the year”.

Before then, there’ll be plenty of time to celebrate.

“We’re inviting a lot of the Nieuw Ruin alumni back and we’re going to bring some of our favourite dishes from the last five years and just enjoy the space as much as we can for the next three weeks,” says Young.

From the opening menu she’s bringing back the salted monkfish “under a fur coat” – the colloquial name of the Russian dish featuring herring, beetroot, vegetables and mayonnaise arranged over a fish to look like a fur coat – and the famous rabbit pie floater.

She’s also “ordered in a whole bunch of beautiful Wagin ducks, so we’re gonna do our wildflower glazed whole roasted duck with duck neck sausage”.

“I just feel so thankful to the Fremantle community. It’s just been really special to us, and we can’t wait to do the next venue, and bring a little bit of that DNA with us.”

Nieuw Ruin will close after Sunday March 15.

@nieuwruin