Tanqueray Bar Hop for Good Food Month: Grain Bar, Gilt Lounge, Grasshopper Bar & The Roosevelt

Despite the name, Good Food Month isn't all about the food. Bar Hop, this year presented by Tanqueray, sees Sydney bars match a Tanqueray gin cocktail with a bar snack, for pre or post dinner snacking or as the name suggests, bar hopping your way around town.

Good Food Month Bar Hop presented by Tanqueray, at select Sydney bars, 1-31 October 2014

With 49 participating venues, you're not short on options for bar hopping, especially in the Sydney CBD, Pyrmont, Surry Hills or Bondi areas.

Rolling into the meat of Good Food Month, bar hopping was high on my agenda last Thursday night with an especially-arranged Bar Hop courtesy of Tanqueray.

Tanqueray Bar Hop transport courtesy of Prestige Chauffeurs

It was rather nice to be picked up from work by a pristine chauffeured car from Prestige Chauffeurs - a family-run business based in the Northern Beaches.

The evening's plan was to hit up four bars around town for their Tanqueray Bar Hop offerings, all very responsibly with thanks to Prestige Chauffeurs picking us up and dropping us at each bar. If that's not bar hopping in style, I don't know what is.

Grain Bar at Four Seasons Hotel, George Street, Sydney

We kicked off the Bar Hop at Grain Bar adjoining the Four Seasons Hotel (in which Sydney's own Pei Modern by Mark Best is opening on 15 October 2014).

Packed to the gills with the after-work crowd, it was a nice and sweet start to the night with the Violette Royale cocktail featuring Tanqueray gin and Creme Yvette liqueur of violet petals and berries, topped with sparkling wine.

Violette Royale cocktail with Hiramasa kingfish with limoncello mayonnaise from Grain Bar 

The girly pink cocktail was matched with a canapé of raw Hiramasa kingfish delicately coiled on a spoon with with limoncello mayonnaise inside.

There's not really any elegant way of eating small morsels from a soup spoon, and so scoffed in one mouthful it was; the creamy mayonnaise being a highlight flavour.

Tanqueray gin martini (left) and Bramble 2.0 from Grain Bar

We managed to squeeze in a cheeky extra round of drinks, including a gin martini (Tanqueray, of course) and Grain's take on the classic Bramble, reinterpreted as a sweet fizz cocktail with great blackberry undertones with the gin.

But nothing beats a good martini to start a night of drinks and food, especially when there's fat green olives in the mix.

Freshly shucked Sydney rock oysters fron Grain Bar

We self matched a little food, being unable to resist the thought of freshly shucked Sydney rock oysters, which are a bargain $1.50 each on Thursday and Friday evenings at Grain (from 5-9pm). Salty with brine and served with lemon and red wine vinaigrette, we demolished these beauties in moments.

Prestige Chauffeurs pick up for next bar on Bar Hop

With our Prestige Chauffeurs car ready and waiting outside for us, it was all a bit posh leaving a five-star hotel after drinks and hopping into a chauffeured car - to head to another bar. I could get used to this.

French 75 cocktail at Gilt Lounge, QT Sydney, Market Street, Sydney

We were dropped off right in front of our next venue, QT Sydney, which boasts three separate bars within the boutique hotel. This evening, Gilt Lounge was our target so it was up the elevator (which customises its song choice based on how many people are in it!), past the quirky lobby, upstairs past Gowings Bar & Grill to the luxe lounge space.

Gilt Lounge's Bar Hop offering is the classic French 75 champagne cocktail, featuring Tanqueray gin, lemon and sugar, topped with sparkling wine and finished with a lemon twist. It's a great, relatively light cocktail that's totally food and canapé-friendly.

French 75 cocktail and snapper ceviche spoon from Gilt Lounge

Gilt's cocktail is paired with their snapper ceviche spoon featuring the fresh diced raw fish dressed with lime juice, super-finely diced red capsicum, baby coriander and shallots on a base of avocado puree - the acidity matching well with the cocktail's light tartness.

Water and spiced peanuts at Grasshopper Bar, Temperance Lane, Sydney

Next we stopped in at seminal laneway small bar Grasshopper Bar, which has recently added outdoor seating and a Chinese-inspired food menu.

As one of the first bars to use jars as glassware, they're forgiven for the water glasses and thanked for the super moreish, salty and spiced peanuts which I felt I ate by the handful.

Golden Axe cocktail

Grasshopper's Bar Hop offering was the Golden Axe cocktail of Tanqueray gin and Amaretto - my least favourite liqueur (for the "almond" flavour) - shaken with passionfruit and fresh apple juice. Thankfully, for me, most of the amaretto flavour was hidden beneath the passionfruit, while it did give the cocktail a nice weight.

Golden Axe cocktail and crispy pastry, duck breast

The sweet cocktail was paired with Grasshopper's fresh take on Peking duck pancakes featuring a beautifully cooked slice of duck breast presented on crispy pastry with cucumber, pickled vegetables and a sweet brown sauce.

The concept was great and the flavours fantastically modernised, but structurally the crispy pastry had nothing on traditional pancakes; basically disintegrating on first bite and necessitating the need to either shove it all in in the one mouthful or let it fall to bits on the wooden board.

Cocktail shaker collection at The Roosevelt, Orwell Street Potts Point

Back in to our chauffeured car we made the jolly drive to Potts Point and The Roosevelt Bar & Diner, which at this late-ish time of the night was full with a combination of couples and noisy groups at the end of their drinking nights.

The Roosevelt's gorgeously-presented Bar Hop cocktail and canapé came as one, the salmon gravlax sitting on a concave glass dish balanced atop the vintage glasses.

East Side Peach cocktail and salmon gravlax from The Roosevelt

The East Side Peach cocktail was probably my favourite and the least sweet cocktail of the Bar Hop drinks. With Tanqueray gin and a beautiful array of fruit and aromatics, namely ginger poached peaches, pink grapefruit, honey, lime and bruised mint, the cocktail was a star on its own.

It was served with house-cured Tasmanian salmon gravlax (we were hitting all the raw fish canapés it seems) with a tiny bit of roast kipfler potato and beetroot in a pretty, artful composition that didn't last long.

Bar Hop completed, it was a comfortable and safe ride home thanks to Prestige Chauffeurs, who have a fantastic service and certainly made bar hopping in heels much easier. The Good Food Month Bar Hop is a great way to discover Tanqueray gin cocktails in Sydney bars, both new and old, near and far (especially if you've got a chauffeur).

Food, Booze and Shoes participated in the Bar Hop presented by Tanqueray with thanks to Leo Burnett Sydney. Special thanks to Sean and Prestige Chauffeurs.

Disclaimer: Food, Booze & Shoes is acquainted with staff at Gilt Lounge and The Speakeasy Group.

  

  

Feeling a bit Parched this March?

We’ve all heard of Dry July (going without alcohol in the month of my birthday? I don’t think so), but have you heard of Parched March?

Parched March launch party at The Argyle, The Rocks, Sydney

Another event named after a rhyming month, but the goal here is – rather than abstinence – to hit 30 bars in 30 days, promoting the fun and responsible enjoyment of bars and drinks.

That’d be my kind of challenge if I had the time, money and ability to rock up to work with a hangover every day for a month.

Parched March ambassadors Simon McGoram and Amy Cooper at The Argyle
(photo courtesy of The Cru Media)

But it is exactly what Amy Cooper and Simon McGoram are doing for the month of March, all in the name of charity. Their goal is to hit up a bar a day, somewhere in the glorious city of bars that is Sydney in a celebration of the city’s thriving and dynamic bar culture. And they're encouraging people and groups to join them.

Says Cooper: “While we commend the charitable motivation of fasting campaigns (Dry July etc), we’d like to see promotion of a healthy attitude to alcohol, rather than complete bans and scare stories, which can serve to encourage binge drinking.

“We aim to show by example that for the average person, drinking moderately is part of a rich and varied social life, not a destructive pursuit.”

Chef Miguel Maestre at the Parched March launch

Launched at a suitably boozy do at The Argyle, catered with a range of gorgeous tapas canapes from Argyle Bazar, Parched March conveniently offers you options for your support - nice.

Albondigas - meat balls canape by Argyle Bazar

Valencian bread salad canape by Argyle Bazar

Ceviche canape by Argyle Bazar

You can raise money for charities by visiting participating venues (Eau de Vie, The Argyle, Grasshopper and Bavarian Bier Cafe to name some) and choosing their Parched March specials.

Or you can sponsor the teams taking part in the drinking odyssey, or indeed start your own team and get sponsored for inflicting your liver.

Patron tequila Manzanero by The Argyle

Considering you’ll possibly be out and about for a drink sometime during March anyway (surely yes?), why not make it charitable and down one or two for Parched March. Cheers to that!

Miscellaneous clean up 2

"Oh the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful. And since we've no place to go, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow."

It certainly is frightful outside here in Sydney, though I'm sure some in the northern hemisphere were wishing that it wasn't quite so cold. Festive season is upon us (and was in shopping centres two months ago), and as things start to get frantically busy, here's some miscellany for the Christmas stockings.

Lemon and herb ricotta stuffed chicken

Dinner parties, lunches, picnics - whatever the occasion, the humble chook can always take its place at the table (or picnic mat). These chickens, lovingly washed and patted dry, were carefully stuffed with flavoured ricotta between the skin and flesh - surprisingly easier to do than MasterChef makes out.

The result is beautifully moist chicken with the added bonus of cheese that's fragrant with lemon, thyme and rosemary. Alongside duck fat roasted potatoes, it's a simple roast meal made a little special.

Drinks served in jars at Grasshopper,
Temperance Lane, Sydney

The coming months and indeed year have been touted as the time for Sydney's small bars. With apparently 80 small bar licenses granted in the last six months, we can expect to see them popping up soon all over and around Sydney town. My liver cautiously says "Bring it".

Already served up with awards and accolades is Temperance Lane's Grasshopper; a hidden bar in a similar vein to Melbourne's laneway bars, incorporating a small restaurant too.

Quirk seems to be the name of the game, with drinks served in jars, wine measured in beakers and bar tabs on old cassette tapes. I'll be back for the Argentinean wine I tried, and to sample the restaurant.

Scallops, chorizo and asparagus

This dish shall be called 'A few of my favourite things on a plate'. Really. Grilled slices of a spicy chorizo, blanched green asparagus spears and lastly, seared scallops. This was a random dinner when all that was in my fridge was a few of my favourite things.

Japchae from MillioRe, Capitol Square, Haymarket

Favouritism makes life hard, for some anyway. Madang is undoubtedly my favourite place for Korean in the city and is my benchmark  for all other Korean. Some individual dishes can be better elsewhere but on the whole, I find Madang unbeatable.

MillioRe in Capitol Square unfortunately doesn't have a fighting chance, although there's absolutely nothing wrong with the japchae of chewy potato starch noodles with loads of vegetables. I found the banchan at MillioRe inferior in flavour, presentation and variety.

Pork bone hotpot

I also found the hotpot unexciting and expensive for what it was: bones, rice cake, herbs and vegetables in spicy stock; especially as I'm not a fan of the bland and gluggy sticks of rice cake. But then again, perhaps I was having an off day or just missing the familiarity of my favourite place and dishes. Darn that comfort zone.

Savoury muffins

Carbs, vegetables, cheese - I may well like savoury muffins more than their traditional sweet counterparts. Perfect for snacking or picnics, this batch had green capsicum, parmesan cheese and chilli, topped off with slices of a lonely gourmet sausage found in the freezer.

Whatever your heart desires

Much like sweet muffins, the flavour combination of the savoury versions can be just as flexible. Other ingredients I'll be trying include: corn kernels, sundried tomato, bacon, pineapple, chutney, pine nuts, pumpkin, goat's cheese and whatever else I find in the freezer next time.

Homemade pizza with button mushrooms, tomato and mozzarella

I'm pretty comfortable with making pizzas at home now, though I still have trouble memorising Pete Evans' dough recipe. It works well for thin bases and even very thin, near biscuit bases, and is do-able as long as you have some kind of sauce for the base (or go bianco), some kind of nicely melting cheese, and for me, some kind of vegetable/s.

I think my preference would be vegetables over meat, although I admit carrots and Chinese vegetables are a bit tougher to deal with pizza-wise. Fresh basil leaves from the new outdoor pot are also going to help, as are the tomatoes if they ever ripen. All I need now is a bocconcini tree - please Santa?