Sydney has never been a bargain town, but when it’s cheaper to eat, drink and travel in places like New York, San Francisco, Dublin, Tokyo and Hong Kong then we’re in trouble. Dave Spanton lets loose on the high cost of living in Sydney…
Tag: Sydney
Nestled behind an actual basement record store on 73 York Street, Sydney, Mojo Record Bar is set to be a new home for fans of 60s, garage, surf and stoner rock. The venue, which opened early this month everything going to plan, is brought to you by Daniel McManus, John Ruttan and Natalie Ng (ex-Hugos Bar Pizza and Café Pacifico) who will also be managing the 120 capacity venue. “We’ll be playing a bit of cheesey stuff too with a splash of Neil Young and more modern groups like the White Stripes,” adds Ng.
With Neutral Bay slowly filling up for prime bar real estate there have been a couple of recent additions further down the road in Cremorne. The Mayor Bar & Dining is proving a hit, and came online just in time for the summer rush. “The building used to be the old Cremorne post office and we have done a great transformation to make the bar a warm great space,” says Tim Harvey, venue manager.
This month we took a look at liqueurs, vermouth and bitters for a cocktail category. As usual we revived a swath of suggestions from Aussie bartenders who were keen to show off their skills. Check out some of the cocktails that made the cut for the February issue.
Double Bay is riding a bit of a wave at the moment, with the old Bollywood restaurant site now under the direction of a new team of talent. Andy Becher (co-owner Roxbury Hotel, Sydney), Daimon Downey (of Sneaky Sound Systems), and Charlie Hinckfuss are all involved and are set to launch the new – at print, yet to be named – venue in mid-January. The team is excited about their new bar and entertainment offering and what it will bring to the local area which has been off the radar for a while as a destination night spot.
When David Spanton put the call out through social media to see who might want to take part he was swamped, and in the end a lucky group got to join him on Zeta’s balcony to enjoy some fine cigars and some terrific spirits. Those lucky attendees were; David Spanton (Editor and Publisher Australian Bartender magazine), (Sam Bygrave (Cohibar, Sydney), Collin Perillo (Zeta, Sydney), John Toubia (Grasshopper, Sydney), Charlie Lehmann (Zeta, Sydney) and Samuel Spurr (cigar writer for Inlumino Cigar News Australia). The spirits on offer were top notch, and some interesting matches were found over the afternoon’s course.
Mikee Collins, veteran hospitality identity, owner and managing director of Alira Moorish Food and Wine Bar, (Sydney) and friend to many suffered a terrible accident late last month when he fell from an eighth-floor balcony.
His condition continues to be critical but stable and while he will be in intensive care for quite a few more weeks followed by many months of hospitalisation and rehabilitation, we are hopeful for a positive outcome.
This might be drinks news related, but we decided to do a bit of investigating and ask some Aussie bartenders what they thought. The lads down at the High West Distillery (USA) have released their very own distillery crafted, and estate barrel aged, cocktail – the 36th Vote Barrelled Manhattan.
Andy Penney (ex-Flinders and Duke, Sydney) is now licensee and General Manager of 21 – tha latest Kings Cross nightspot that’s mixing up what the strip has to offer. “Tha name comes from the old days when this place was a notorious gambling den called The Kellet Club,” Penney stated.
The latest offering from the never ending roll-out that is the Merivale group – and it’s hitting the right chord yet again. Justin Hemmes and Merivale chef Dan Hong travelled to Los Angeles visiting over 40 different venues for inspiration before coming back and setting up El Loco within a matter of weeks.
This month’s Cocktail Experiment turned out to be such a massive hit we had to redesign the magazine section to fit in everyone that wanted to participate! When it comes to Tequila, there’s certainly a buzz in the air at the moment with bartenders and consumers alike demanding more and more of the icon category.
James Bradey (Grandma’s, Sydney) was keen to host this month’s event and welcomed the Sydney bar teams from Pocket and Stitch to his new haunt for an all out session on Vodka.