Icebergs in Bondi had a house limoncello, made by one guy. Then he moved back to Italy, and the bar needed a new one.
Matty Opai, Icebergs’ Bar Director, went looking for a replacement. He couldn’t find one he wanted to pour.
Matty Opai, co-founderI didn’t really like any of the limoncellos on the market.
So he asked Alex Prichard, then Icebergs’ Head Chef, to make one. The traditional way is lemon peel, spirit and a lot of sugar. Alex made it the way a chef makes a lemon syrup, balancing sweet, sour and a little salt. The first batch used hand-zested citrus, lemon leaves and fresh lemon juice.
Alex Prichard, co-founderIf you asked a chef to make a lemon syrup, how would they make it? That was the approach.
Matty built it for the bar, so it had to work in a Spritz, a Sgroppino and ice cold on its own. Other venues tried it, then started asking for it.
Matty Opai, co-founderMeet the LemonIt was only ever meant to be a small-scale thing for Icebergs. Then it got good, people liked it, and here we are.
Melon came next, for the same reason: neither of them could find a melon liqueur they were happy to pour. Lemon stays at the heart of the family, and more mates are on the way.
Alex Prichard, co-founderMeet MelonIf you’ve got fond memories of being 18 and drinking bright green melon drinks, we can give you a better version of that.
Alex and Matty had a limoncello venues were asking for, but not the scale to take it further. And, as two non-Italians making limoncello, no Italian in the room. In 2026 their mates Stefano Catino and Vince Lombardo of the Maybe Group came on as partners. Both Italian, luckily.
Alex Prichard, co-founderNone of us take anything too seriously. None of us are stuck on ‘this is how it’s traditionally done, so this is how it has to be done.’
The name is cello, said the way an Australian says it, the same way espresso becomes expresso. It works as a hello too.
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