Stitch in time

It’s not a moment too late that the latest small bar has opened in the Sydney CBD. From the guys behind Darlinghurst’s Pocket Bar comes this stunningly suave underground bar simply called Stitch.

Sitting at the bar at Stich, York Street, Sydney

I doubt you’d miss it if you were walking up York Street towards Wynyard Station, as a quick look down through the corporate-looking glass door reveals a glimpse of the warm, inviting, spirits-lined shelf of the bar.

And just to make it that much more alluring, the kitchen serves burgers and hot dogs.

Looking down at Stich from York Street

Opened just last week, Stitch is already a standout among the CBD’s small bars. While petite, it has not cut any corners in decking out the interiors; from the impressive collection of antiquated Singer sewing machines under the bar, to the sewing tables altered to sitting and drinking tables, to the variety of French champagne stored beneath the stairs.

Beetlejuice cocktail

Cocktails fill two double pages of the menu, with the remainder wines and bubbles. We start on a couple of pretty drinks – the dramatic Beetlejuice is served tall with Bombay Sapphire gin, sweet vermouth and the nutrient-filled combination of beetroot and ginger juice, topped up with ginger beer for a surprisingly tasty yet healthy drink.

It’s quite like something from a juice bar with the added sweetness of ginger beer and a little bit of naughtiness with the gin.

Skinny Love cocktail

My Skinny Love drink is served in a coupe glass with a couple of floating “frozen” mint leaves, heavy with more gin, dry vermouth and a lemon verbena liqueur. The overall drink is strong with a pleasantly subtle, sweet lemon tinge.

Curly fries

Not knowing, nor informed, that the meals are served with fries, we ordered a serve of the curly fries and were rather bemused at the serving that arrived. For $8, I hadn’t expected a small metal bowl full of the thinnest fries ever known to me, and not so much curly either.

More like potato shavings than fries, I wasn’t a fan of whatever kitchen gadget turned what should have been crunchy-outside and fluffy-inside potato into the occasional curl and broken bits of potato; much like those packet Smith’s French Fries.

But then again, others seemed to enjoy the super thin fries, which were served with a tangy salt seasoning as well as tomato sauce and honey mustard.

BLT burger (fuzzy, I know...)

The burger selection was quite the interesting one, without a chicken option but with beef, lamb and turkey, amongst others. The BLT burger was a beef pattie with bacon, lettuce and tomato – the pattie quite beefy and tasty if not a tad dry.

The French Poodle hot dog

The French Poodle, as part of the gourmet hot dog selection, featured a chunky pork Toulouse sausage with slices of melting brie, stewed apples, butter lettuce and mustard on a nicely crisp bread roll that was probably just a little too long for the excellent sausage.

Stitch is a place one could easily sit for long drinking sessions - whether seated at the prime bar seats, or with a group at the booths, or indeed at one of the converted sewing machine tables (watch your knees), ideally sampling your way through the cocktail menu. Stitch offers an upscale small bar experience that looks to be the beginning of the next wave, I think, in no time.

Edit: Stitch is now one of the participating venues of Parched March, with their special drink being none other than the Skinny Love cocktail. See other venues and their Parched March drink here.