Bar Fly

BULLETIN PLACE
1st Floor, 10 – 14 Bulletin Place, Sydney bulletinplace.com
ALL THIS TALK about fresh, seasonal and local has extended to cocktails. Each day Bulletin Place hangs up a new selection on butchers’ paper, inspired by the fresh produce from fruit and veggie man Matt Brown. When we drank our way through the day’s list, Ketel One Detox changed my mind about the ubiquitous drink: good vodka, and freshly squeezed apple juice was uplifted by cucumber (and for just $10.) You won’t see signage; pop up the stairs inside the foyer next to the tattoo parlour placard, to find one of the three bartender owners (including Diageo Reserve World Class Bartender of the Year Tim Philips) mixing it up. Butchers’ paper has other uses too; you can buy an absent friend a drink for next time they stop by. A CBD small bar at its best: LOVE. LOVE. LOVE.

CRANE
32 Bayswater Road, Potts Point (02) 9357 3414 cranesydney.com
THE COOL CROWD has already arrived. The front yard verandah is Astroturfed, yet the real bar fun happens in the backyard under the jacaranda tree. Elsewhere, all that remains of the old Bayswater Brasserie is the iconic tiled floor in a propitious fit out that includes the most fabulous distressed, industrial wallpaper in the private dining room. A large cocktail list (my favourite is Hidden Fortress: Gosling’s Rum, fresh mint, lime juice, house-made ginger beer) is evolving, and I predict the 24-hour license should see Crane become a popular late night hideout. Australia Day Weekend (Saturday 26th / Sunday 27th) calls with $5 Pure Blondes and $6 glasses of Chandon. And on other Sundays, five-buck sake or shochu shooters beckon. More good news: Crane has secured Taichi Ito (with his ambrosial Japanese fusion food) as Executive Chef.