Category: FOOD & DRINK

Sydney’s got a new Back Alley bar with a salon quality difference

Christopher Hanna 2

It’s one thing to open a new cocktail bar in Sydney, but it’s another to pair it with stylemasters from Christopher Hanna and turn it into a 65-seater salon and watering hole, right in the middle of town. The Christopher Hannah bar is an intimate space tucked away in Sydney’s Bridge Lane. The cocktail bar features both well-known houses and artisan producers, offering a place to sit and unwind with a classic-driven cocktail list, unexpected spirits and premium refreshments. Complete with espresso martinis on tap, the New York-inspired interior comes with moody lighting and grand finishes, offering up to 50 wines on the drinks list including boutique wines from Australia, France and America. A solid fine spirits list and humble focus on champagne with caviar and well thought-out share plates, they also offer a bottle service where you can purchase a bottle of their favourite poison and then keep it there until their next visit. So basically, drinking plus a blow-dry, haircut or beard trim is the new thing. And it’s good.    The heritage-listed building has been completely reimagined by award-winning interior designer, Melissa Collison, featuring brass, copper and natural stone, each area is completely unique. Check it out when you’re next in Sydney. 

Why you need to eat at Pelicano Double Bay

Pelicano

Pelicano is the restaurant, club and bar in the heart of Double Bay Sydney, known for its top music, bougie crowd and even bougier food and drinks menu. So, if you’re in the area, it’s worth heading underground for. Pelicano is just on Bay Street, clandestinely hidden underneath the strip shops, your only way in and out are the stairs that take you down and through the glass doors. Inside, you’re welcomed by mood lighting, an upmarket casual feel and a range of staff that are as good to look at as the food and drinks they serve. You know you’re in Sydney’s eastern suburbs. The menu is pretty far reaching and wholesomely done. With a little from the east, a little from the west, you;re treated to such things as mac and cheese croquettes and sashimi for starters, cheeseburgers and yellowfin tuna tartare for larger items and a wide range of sweet-inspired cocktails for dessert. They believe the treat to cleanse the palette after an onslaught of flavours is a cleansing hit of alcohol. They’ve had no complaints yet. See the full Pelicano menu here. They serve until 10, usually. After then, the demands of the customers move more from food to drinks and the music gets louder, lights get dimmer and table service commences, offering the after hours club to really fire up well into the night. See more about Pelicano Double Bay and get involved. Pelicano Restaurant & Bar 24 Bay St, Double Bay, Sydney Wednesday – Thursday 6pm-12am Friday – Saturday… Read More

FroPro is the new high protein, low sugar ice cream you need in the freezer

FroPro 1

There’s a new frozen treat in town and it’s the best yet. FroPro is serving you frozen tubs of awesomeness from all over the place, but it’s what goes into it that’s the real kicker. It’s dear Oz’s only ice cream with a 5-star health rating from ex-professional Rugby Union player Ed O’Donoghue.  FroPro is one of those things that touts all that ‘all natural’ stuff, but once you get past that and read the good bits for what they are, you learn it’s high in protein and is 95% sugar-free, low GI and low fat, starting from only 78 calories per serve. Not bad, hey? Coming in chocolate, salted caramel, peanut butter and toasted coconut flavours, they’ve hit the biggest flavours in food trends over the past four years with the launch range and no guessing where to from here! You’ll find FroPro in over 650 Woolies and 800 Coles outlets around the country.

Stuffed Beaver in Crows Nest is doing an awesome Bottomless Brunch

Stuffed Beaver drink

If there’s one thing that goes down a treat in Sydney, it’s a Bottomless Brunch. And the latest one to join the fray is at Stuffed Beaver in Crows Nest. They’re known for their poutine and quality comfort food, but this spring season, they’re known for bottomless wine, too after they’ve launched an exciting new brunch offering. Starting from Sunday 23rd September from 12pm to 3pm, the Beaver Bottomless Brunch will offer customers an unforgettable experience, serving bottomless pulled pork tacos, poutine, mimosas and Beaver Brew. Do it for $49 per person and enjoy pulled pork tacos, poutine, mimosas and Beaver Brew. Bookings essential: Phone 02 9437 9746 to book

Sydney is getting it’s own island dedicated to wine this summer

Sydney Wine Island Clark 1

Wine Island is coming to Sydney, transforming Clark Island right in the middle of Sydney Harbour into a wine-sodden haven. For three days from Friday 2 November to Sunday 4 November 2018, the island will transform the stunning island into Australia’s most tropical and unique wine festival. What began as an event encouraging its ‘holiday-makers’ to discover a piece of paradise filled with good wine, food and music has evolved into a 3-day experience offering 3 exceptional packages. Complete with superyacht, serving-up satiable sustenance for the islanders, the delicious menu is jam packed with juicy burgers, loaded fries, Mediterranean pitas, fluffy boa buns by Chur Burger along with cheese platters and oysters galore. A tropical island destination heralding the arrival of our Aussie summer, it doesn’t get much better than that. See more at the Wine Island website.

Where to celebrate International Coffee Day in Melbourne

Tipico coffee

Melbourne loves coffee and Melburnians can’t get enough. So, if you fit the bill, you’ll freak when you learn that on 1 October, it’s International Coffee Day. Here’s where to celebrate in Melbourne… Palermo 401 Little Bourke St, Melbourne VIC 3000 Dulce de leche tiramisu, $16 La Cumparsita, $19 Celebrate International Coffee Day the Argentinian Way at Palermo, where Melburnians can indulge in their favourite bean in more ways than one. A playful Argentinian twist on a traditional Italian dessert, Palermo’s dulce de leche tiramisu will satisfy all coffee and sweet tooth cravings. Pair this delicious dish with an espresso or milky blend, or go all out with La Cumparsita – the South American espresso martini – a mix of spiced rum, dulce de leche, espresso and Pedro Ximenez, garnished with chocolate. Park Street Dining 815 Nicholson St, Carlton North VIC 3054 In celebration of International Coffee Day on Monday, 1 October, Park St Dining, Melbourne’s inner-north neighbourhood cafe, will prolong the festivities and honour the beverage throughout the month of October. Marking the occasion, the café will showcase two new blends, each with very individual flavour notes, handpicked by head roaster Tristan Gassick. A Kenyan blend that hints at tones of blackcurrant, lemon ice tea and sparkling acidity and a sweet and peachy Ethiopian blend. Each blend will be available to enjoy in store, as a takeaway or as beans to brew at home. Tipico  242 High Street, Windsor 3181 Caffè del Nonno, $14 Available for the first week of October only, Tipico will be offering their newest Italian coffee creation, Caffè del Nonno, literally meaning ‘grandfathers… Read More

Tokyo-cool Japanese restaurant in Darling Square, Bang Bang will shoot you down

Bang Japanese 2

If you dig Japan and Japanese food, then new Tokyo eatery in Darling Square, Bang Bang, will more than do it for you. A little Shinjuku, a little inner-city Tokyo, a little seaside Sydney, Bang Bang is a Robotronic, steely decorated, neon-lit, Yakuza decorated haven of Japanese-cool restaurant on the city fringe of inner Sydney. Hard to find aside from the bullet-sprayed roller doors and hauntingly good Japanese scents wafting out the door, Bang Bang is on Steam Mill Lane underneath the Commonwealth Bank building, offering-up lunch to dinner for the more trendy eaters amongst us. Head chef Kokubo Yuji’s (ex-Nobu Tokyo) casual lunch menu is an array of Japanese favourites including omelettes, udon, curries, signature donburi, and ‘The Bang Bang Tebasaki’: a tower of double-fried chicken wings doused in a peppery soy glaze. They’re doing something new with the cuisine, playing with flavours and different versions of presentation that takes a different, but completely welcome step away from traditional Japanese eating. Think cocktails served in hollowed-out grapefruits, sushi platters presented on fresh slate sheets and a cocktail called the “otakuastic” served in a 1- litre butler pump, perfect for large groups. Bang Bang 14 Steam Mill Lane, Darling Square, Haymarket Opening hours: 11:30am-10:30pm

The ivy and Campari are hosting Campari Red Nights in Sydney this September

Campari Red cocktail ivy 1

Campari Red Nights are back in Sydney this September right in the heart of Sydney at the food and drinks hub that is the ivy by Merivale. Starting tonight, for four weeks, Campari Red Nights will turn ivy’s Pool Club into a red Italian Riviera where you’ll enjoy live music, street art, dancers and smash Campari cocktails and drinks like it’s your last night on earth. From 5pm every Friday, Pool Club and Ash Street Cellar will be providing guests with classic Campari-based drinks like the timeless Campari Soda ($10), a Pineapple Americano ($15), the bold Negroni ($15) and the sweet Milano Sbagliato ($15). Check out the Pool Club’s aperitivo and pizza menus if you get peckish. The official launch party is on September 21, from 5pm ’til late. Mon 17th September, 2018 – Fri 12th October, 2018 Ivy Precinct 330 George Street, Sydney

Glenfiddich whisky and PS40 have teamed up to create an experimental range designed to impress even the most discerning palate

Glenfiddich

Pleasure and pain. Salt and pepper. Tom and Jerry. Peanut butter and jelly. Some things just go together – such is the case with whisky and soda, leading award-winning Scotch whisky distillery Glenfiddich to collaborate with craft soda factory PS40 to create a range of experimental highballs designed to tantalise your tastebuds. The Glenfiddich Experimental series – consisting of the IPA Experiment, Project XX (pronounced “twenty”), and Winter Storm – provided the backdrop for the collaboration, with Glenfiddich brand ambassador Luke Sanderson working alongside Michael Cheim and Thor Bergquist of PS40 to create two limited edition sodas. The resultant PS Pandan Barley and PS Strawberry Gum Leaf seamlessly blend with the IPA Experiment and Project XX to create a luxurious highball. “PS40 are constantly coming up with new ways to innovate and experiment within their category,” says Luke Sanderson on the decision to collaborate with PS40. “Much like Glenfiddich, they strive to create new and exciting concepts, so they’re the perfect partner for us to highlight our ability to push boundaries.” The Experimental Highball SS18 series will be available across 200 leading Australian bars, including Zeta Bar and The Argyle in Sydney, and Ms Collins and Hightail in Melbourne. Sydneysiders can also get the bespoke sodas on tap at PS40. The first soda, PS Pandan Barley, utilizes the fragrant Asian plant to upgrade the traditional lemon barley soda, making for a dry soda with a rich, nutty Pandan leaf aftertaste. For best results; pair with Glenfiddich IPA Experiment. Designed to be paired with the Glenfiddich… Read More