We’ve tracked the growth of tapas bars that do real, proper pintxos across a few states now, and Perth is getting in on the act with its first proper taste of the San Sebastian specialty, with Wolf Lane’s Bar de Halcyon.
Venues
Venues
Sydney’s small bar revolution isn’t confined to the hipster hills of Surry or the born again CBD — even the plush and proper surrounds of the lower north shore have been getting in on the act.
Back in May we brought you the news of yet another addition to Sydney’s booming CBD bar scene, Papa Gede’s Bar. Well the doors are open and you’re likely to find that there’s a lot to like about this new bar.
They’ve undergone a beautiful renovation and recently reopened. The fitout is a classy one, with lots of royal blue and timber — and it also has one of the best views of Sydney of any pub going around…
Brisbane has welcomed a new bar, described as a “counter-culture whiskey lounge”, to Fortitude Valley. Called Sabotage Social, the focus is on top quality drinks without the attitude that sometimes goes along with it, according to co-owner Bradzilla Cochrane.
“What? No. We can’t stop here. This is bat country.”
Those words of Raoul Duke — Hunter S. Thompson’s fictional literary alter ego — open the 1998 movie, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and have inspired the name of a new bar opening in Randwick: Bat Country.
“The main point was, it was always going to be American Whiskey and wine focused with “real food” on offer – that never changed,” said Andy Freeman when asked about the evolution of his new Perth bar, Varnish on King.
A new bar in Bondi hopes to cash in on the popularity of the primal agave spirit, mezcal. They’ve got on board ex-Cafe Pacifico and El Topo agave nut Brett Harris and the venue will be called Mr Moustache…
If you’ve read these pages over the last year or so you would know that the bar scene in Perth is on a roll, thanks in no small part to the role played by the new crop of small bars that have opened up.
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: dumplings are tailor-made drinking food. Small enough to nibble away on over conversation, salty and moreish enough to warrant another bottle of beer, or wine, or round of cocktails…
Do you like your meats with your brew? The team behind Perth’s Ezra Pound are opening a new bar called Old Faithful, said owner Talmage Andersen.
The northern suburbs of Sydney have come a long way in drinking terms ever since Sydney’s small bar scene took off, and it’s filtering through to larger venues. Check out The Avenue for a cocktail list that offers more than the past vodka-fruit-liqueur=something-tini formulations of old (though we reckon they’ve missed a golden opportunity to revive a lost classic in the form of The Avenue, the cocktail).