In the heart of Sydney’s Surry Hills, Sam Overton is showing how authenticity, commitment to craft, and a nod to history can create a bar with few gimmicks, and good drinks.
Frankie Cadillac owner, Sam Overton, has had about five lives to the rest of our one. From a global creative director for haircare to fashion photographer, his career path was anything but linear. But hospitality was in his blood. “My nan and grandad were publicans; my uncle was a chef. Food and drink were always there,” he says. The pandemic was the turning point. After years on the road, Overton opened an Italian café, then Bootleg Social in Paddington, before deciding to go all in with Frankie’s Cadillac.“I had cancer, and I thought, if I’m not going to do it now, I never will. I don’t overthink things – I just do them.”
The result is Frankie Cadillac, on Albion Street, Surry Hills, building its reputation over the last 18 months on the craft, conviction, and uncompromising personality of Overton. The venue may be small, but the dedication to producing everything inhouse – from food to spirits, syrups, liqueurs, and vermouth – is on a grand scale.
What sets Frankie’s apart is Overton’s singular focus on Negronis. To his knowledge, he’s the only bar owner in Sydney making vermouth entirely from scratch. The recipe is a labour of love: a Pinot Gris base infused with botanicals like wormwood, juniper, chamomile, and star anise, enriched with a brandy caramel. The process takes a week, with hours of hands-on work, but the results speak for themselves.
“People come from all over just to drink Negronis here,” Overton says. “Last year we were named best Negroni and best espresso martini in Sydney, and that meant a lot—because it was about quality, not gimmicks.
There is also Frankie’s also offers something you won’t find anywhere else: a vintage Negroni program. Behind the bar sit rare bottles of Campari dating back to 1928, alongside mid-century gins, vermouths, and bourbons.
Guests celebrating special occasions can order cocktails built from these time capsules, with Overton personally preparing and presenting them. “Even the Campari Museum in Milan doesn’t have some of the bottles we’ve got,” he says. “It’s drinking history.”
The bar’s menu extends beyond Negronis, with handmade liqueurs, syrups, and plant-based twists. The coconut margarita and the cheekily named DTF (Overton’s bold riff on a Pornstar Martini) have developed cult followings, and Fridays and Saturdays see the venue heaving with locals snapping up late-night $10 martinis and spritzes. Everything is made to order – no batching, no shortcuts. For Overton, detail matters.
“If you’re paying me $25 or $30 for a drink, I want you to know it was made properly, for you, right then.”
That attention to craft is matched by a straightforward philosophy. Sam rejects theatrics or other gimmicks.
“I’m English, I just want to drink well and talk with my mates,” he says.
It’s an approach that resonates with Frankie’s growing community of regulars, from neighbours who have adopted it as their local to industry figures who slip in for a quiet nightcap.
Overton is also on the move, with new venues in the planning for the CBD and eastern city edge.
For him, success isn’t about ego or accolades. It’s about offering guests something honest and memorable. “Too many people make drinks to say, ‘Look at me’,” he says. “I just wanted to make something better, for a reason.”