The new bar from Tim Philips, Adi Ruiz, and Robb Sloan, Bulletin Place, is taking shape. A small, intimate 50-seat number, the boys are keen to take that approach to their drinks too, doing away with a traditional back bar.
A bunch of medicine bottle marked with Roman numerals will house their own, proprietary liqueurs, “so hopefully we’re the only ones who know what’s in them,” said Ruiz.
“We’re going for a sort of anti-back bar, stripping everything right back. The biggest category we’ll have on hand will be whiskey,” said Ruiz. Philips said there will be “12-15 whiskies” and rather than having them on the back bar there aren plans to have a crate that they take to the table. “We’ll take over some tasting glasses, and do it organically and sit at the table with them,” he said. They’ll have a bunch of whiskies from Ireland and Japan, though “there’s no plans to have Canadian whiskey!” said Sloan.
There will be just one chef’s table style space to reserve, and plenty exposed light fittings and “just a little bit of an antiquary thing to it,” said Ruiz.
They’re keeping options open when it comes to suppliers, too with only a couple of supplier agreements. “The biggest relationship we’ve got is with Ketel One,” said Philips. “Ketel One was the one vodka we wanted, so the fact that they came to the party is amazing,” said Philips.
The food will be kept simple and outsourced for the time being. “We’ve got a relationship with Tapavino here, and we’ll get them to do us a nice jamon plate,” said Ruiz.
Fresh ingredients are key, said Philips. “I’m sick of seeing, especially in Australia where we have access to great produce, seeing strawberries on cocktail lists in the middle of winter,” he said. The food world’s been doing it for a while,” said Philips. “They do it for a reason, it’s not a fad – the world’s getting smaller and more local.”
The boys expect to open the doors on Bulletin Place (upstairs at 10-14 Bulletin Place, Sydney) by Christmas.