This week sees the opening of a new bar in the Speakeasy group’s stable: Bottleneck. Located in the space that the now defunct Art Lounge occupied in the Kirketon Hotel (and practically on Eau de Vie’s doorstep) the new bar from Sven Almenning and company…
Venues
Venues
Oysters have long been prized by foodies. Instagram is full of snapshots of latte art, glasses of wine framed by scenic views and oysters. Dozens upon dozens of beautiful bivalves.
Within a crowd’s roar of the MCG, the Mt View Hotel will no doubt provide much-needed refreshment for those heading to the cricket this summer. They’ve spruced up the offering upstairs on the rooftop, decking it out with craft beers and a new emphasis on cocktails.
With a list put together by Matt Hewitt (ex-The Bowery, where he won Bar Manager of the Year in the 2007 Australian Bar Awards) cocktails are front and centre at this Brisbane bar.
Back in our June issue we brought you the news that this bar from Chris Denman (who placed 2nd to Jason Williams in the Bartender Magazine 2010 Bartender of the Year competition) and partner Stevie Wright would be coming. Its been open a few months now, and things are going well.
Beer is more important to Aussie bars than ever. Tippler’s Tap is testament to this – as manager Carl Rhodes describes it, Tippler’s “is a small neighbourhood bar with no pretense, no dress code and no crap beer.” Seems they’re clear about what they want to do with the place.
Gilt Lounge is tucked away above Gowings Bar & Dining in the quirky QT Hotel, Sydney. It is luxurious, it is exclusive, but don’t take that as bywords for a lazy bar program – this place has invested seriously in doing drinks and drinks service well.
It seems Bob Hawke is having a bit of a renaissance in the eyes of Australian drinkers – first, by christening the Workers in Balmain, and now as a part of the Print Hall venture that took over the The West Australian newspaper’s former headquarters (and including a $2.5m wine program). Bob’s Bar is adorned with the wise words muttered by the man himself: “Any boss who sacks anyone for not turning up to work today is a bum!”
2011 was a cracker year for the Walkers Arms Hotel. They scooped the pool at the South Australian AHA Awards and were given the title of best overall hotel. Yet this revamped and tech-savvy hotel, just a short distance from the Adelaide CBD, has had a long history that runs parallel with the history of South Australia itself.
The team behind Sydney’s successful Grasshopper bar – one of the first small bars to brave the CBD – have opened their second venue with wheels already in motion for a third. Boston as the café cum bar is called is nestled at the base of the Gateway building just a stone’s throw from Circular Quay.
No one that we know of is putting sherry out there in as big a way that these guys are. There is a groundswell of interest building in all things Jerez in the States (bartenders like The Columbia Room’s Derek Brown have been raving about it for a while now) and we’re seeing the local winos talking about it more and more, particularly the Equipos Navazos bottlings which you can find here at Tapavino.
There are two big wine trends that have taken shape over the last few years: one of them is a trend toward natural wines; the other, an increasing interest in orange wines. And there is quite a lot of overlap between the two. Natural wine, loosely defined, is wine that is made with the least intervention possible.