Clarence Street has a fresh basement lift. It’s the revamped Bar Herbs, MUCHO Group’s newly sharpened, underground ode to late-90s New York drinking culture. The team has spent the past six months quietly tuning, tweaking and reshaping the venue – and the result is a martini-first bar that knows exactly what Sydney wants right now.
When Herbs opened back in May, the focus leaned into amaros, negronis and the broader bitter world. As Group General Manager Daisy Tulley puts it, “We’re constantly tweaking what we do in response to how Sydney is reacting and how they feel in our venues. It’s really important for us to make people of Sydney feel as good and joyful in our venues as much as possible. That’s why we do this.”
Across those months, the team watched how guests used the room – how they sat, how they drank, how they had fun. A few small but telling shifts were made: seating adjustments for better flow, new artwork and signage, refreshed uniforms. “Tio’s is nearly 14 years old and we’re always evolving,” Tulley said. “Herbs is no different.”
But the big, undeniable shift? The name – and the menu.
People were calling it Herbs so often that MUCHO made it official and renamed it Bar Herbs. And with that, the drinks program took a decisive turn. “We’ve noticed people leaning more into the classics and really enjoying them,” Tulley said. So, the team doubled down. Herbs is now a martini bar through and through – but not in the same universe as Bar Planet, MUCHO’s beloved Newtown spot.
Creative Director Jeremy Blackmore, the man behind every drink MUCHO has ever served (and, critically, every batch of their cult popcorn), built the new martini menu and says the revamped bar is a bit more ‘Sex and the City, downtown Manhattan’ than its sibling martini joint – Bar Planet.
The new drinks list includes a tight lineup of signatures: the Herbs Martini (seasonal vodka, vermouth, olives, lemon); the Herbs Dirty Martini (seaweed vodka, vermouth, olives, olive oil); the Gibson Martini (gin, vermouth, rosemary, pickled onion); the New York Martini (vodka, vermouth, dill, pickle); and a surprisingly cheeky half-serve, the Mouthful Martini, built on seasonal vodka, vermouth, olives and lemon.
There’s also the “Martini Your Way” model — a choose-your-own-destiny approach that lets guests dial dryness, saltiness, garnish and brine to a personal ideal. Ownership, in a glass.
For those straying from martinis, the broader list reimagines classic cocktails: yuzu-hibiscus Cosmo with lemon granita, a parsley-oil Gimlet, pandan Espresso Martini, citrus-bright Gin Fizz and a double-vermouth Negroni.
Blackmore summed up the whole philosophy: “Bar Herbs is about reimagining the world’s favourite cocktails. Drinks that feel fun, fresh, and purely delicious, drinks that people can grab a hold of and love.”