Bartenders, prepare to be put on notice. We have seen the future, and there’s no place for your rubbish chat and drink-guzzling, drink-slinging inefficiency. There’s no place for a heavy pour of free drinks with that pretty girl you want to get off with.
Venues
Venues
If you’ve been to Balmain recently, you’ll know that the blue collar crowd that once filled the terraced streets is merely a memory. This ritzy postcode with its sweeping city views is more ristretto than Nescafe but some of the vestiges of its proud working class roots are still on show. Mostly with its historic pubs (of which there are many!) and now, thanks to the Riversdale Group (the fellas behind Lo-Fi in Darlinghurst and more recently The Marlborough in Newtown), with a small bar called The Workers on Darling Street.
It feels as those every other week we’re writing about a new bar opening up in the heart of Sydney’s CBD. The latest bar to hit the CBD — The Lobo Plantation —promises plenty of good eats and most importantly, rum.
“Julius Lobo was a sugar baron who owned about 17 or 19 sugar mills in Cuba in the early 1900s,” said Jared Merlino (ex-Ivy Pool Club), one of the owners of the new venture. “So he sort of defined that era in Cuba when Americans were coming down during Prohibition. Then it came to an end when the revolution came through and kicked him off the island,” he said.
The Butterworth, in the heart of Perth’s CBD and located in Exchange Plaza, has been kicking goals with the food, but it’s the drinks that we’re interested in — and with good reason. The cocktail bar is headed up by Mike de Vos (check out our Introducing section this issue) who is lending the skills he’s used at Luxe and Bobeche while he waits for his own bar to get up off the ground.
A touch of Americana has come to Adelaide in the guise of Jack Ruby. Not the putz who assassinated the guy who assassinated JFK — but a bar that takes it’s cues from the great culture of diner food in the States, from New Orleans to the Midwest, Texas and California.
This Saturday night marks the rebirth of the site upon which Melbourne cocktailing institution, Der Raum, once stood. While Der Raum is moving to Munich, Bar Economico is being raised in its place. “The site is too special to me to sell,” said owner, Matt Bax, “so I wanted to give it a new life and it needed to be different to get away from the shadow of Der Raum.”
Why someone hasn’t come up with this sooner is beyond us. Sure you could go out, have a cocktail, nibble on some entrees, get some mains and share a bottle of wine before moving onto the cheese plate — but why bother? Life is short, screw dessert; get me some cheese and booze.
Mike Enright is to open a new bar, called The Barber Shop, on York Street in Sydney’s CBD. Opening in the early July it’s a collaboration between Enright, Julian Train and Chris Mills, and will feature a classic barber shop with a bar out back.
After a few exhausting days visiting distilleries it was a welcome sight to see this bar and enjoy a few tequilas and a cold beer. Many of you reading this know that La Capilla is now as famous as many of their tequilas having recently been awarded one of the top 100 bars in the world by Drinks International magazine. Mind you, our humble Australian magazine’s similar “best bars list” has also heaped high praise on this world renowned dive bar.
They say that three is a trend, right? Well then there’s definitely a street—hip hop thing happening in Sydney right now. First there was Black Penny in Surry Hills and then PLAY Bar, both with an emphasis on hip hop and, well, all things urban. Now Redfern is getting in on the act with new bar, Hustle & Flow. Hip hop is the order of the day here, as the owners Tim and Lisette Duhig are promising to represent the four “r’s” — Rap, RNB, Redfern and Respect.
Owned by 5th generation family member Guillermo Erickson Sauza, the grandson of Javier Sauza who in 1976 sold the Sauza distillery. What wasn’t part of that deal was this 100-year-old disused and run down distillery site just a stone’s throw from their old family distillery
You’ve heard of BYO right? It’s an Australian tradition not seen in much of the rest of the world. Well, here’s a new one: BYF (or at least that’s what we’re calling it). Cobbler is promising patrons that they can bring their own food to the beverage-only venue.