Raising the bar in Sydney…………..

These days there’s little question the Victorian capital wins, hands down and much of this has to do with the states’ licensing laws – Victoria’s are 21st century while NSW still thinks the Rum Corps runs the place.

With its celebrity chefs, Sydney often gives the impression of being incredibly modern and cutting edge, but bar and restaurant owners like Toby Osmond would disagree, saying, “… the lack of quality venues providing entertainment after dark would suggest anything else,” he says on the website of he and his brother’s new venue, Will and Toby’s Taylor Square.

But that could all change, if Sydney’s Lord Mayor Clover Moore and many others lobbying the government have their way, with Moore thinking Sydneysiders are short-changed by the state’s liquor licensing laws, which are blamed for the city lacking the charming small bars that line many Melbourne laneways.

In Melbourne, a cafe can get a liquor licence for $A567.50 ($NZ660) which allows it to sell you a glass of wine without food.

In Sydney the same licence costs $A10,500 for a restaurant of 100 or less, with 70 percent of people having to order meals with their drinks, then $A15,500 for places with more than 100. The ratio is 70 percent eating to 30 percent only drinking.

Moore plans to introduce a private member’s bill into NSW parliament to reform these liquor laws. Many organisations are also lobbying the government on this issue, although change is resisted by the Australian Hotels Association.

Still, despite the obstacles, around half a dozen new bars are set to open in Sydney in coming months.

Supper clubs are the new buzz word for Sydney nightlife.

Some say Sydney sophisticates and visitors want to eat late when they go out on the town and more and more venues are now catering for that.

To anybody born this side of World War II the site for Will and Toby’s Taylor Square was known as Gilligans, a great bar where gays and straights mixed comfortably in the sometimes difficult atmosphere of Oxford Street.

The brothers have kept the tradition going but added the Supper Club, a late-night jazz and cabaret venue that can seat 250 guests, and the Club Lounge, which has been described in one review as the kind of place that makes you want to drink your Martinis very, very dry.

Not quite a supper club but a well-regarded restaurant is The Bentley Restaurant and Bar in Surry Hills.

Sommelier Nick Hildebrandt says he’s not sure there’s a market yet for locals eating late. The restaurant’s kitchen stays open until 11pm but most people like to eat around 7.30-8pm.   “At the moment there isn’t the culture … but it will hopefully change,” he says.

Since The Bentley opened last year its accolades include being named best new restaurant in the 2007 Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide. Hildebrandt also won the Sommelier Award.

The former pub, which remained closed for five years, now serves modern European food with tapas.  But its tapas unlike you’ve ever seen before, including “what we like to eat ourselves”.

The wine list changes almost daily and is constantly evolving, described by Hildebrandt as, like the food, “taking a very basic material and turning it into something good”.

Only 25 people can drink without eating at The Bentley.  “Sydneysiders like to think they are sophisticated,” he says.  “I think they are … but the licensing laws don’t help.”

At The Lincoln in Kings Cross, which opened in February, the restaurant stays open until 2am, in line with its reputation as a late night destination.

Oscar Cullinan, of the Oscar Oscar string of hairdressing salons, and director of The Lincoln, says the concept is 1930s art deco, in keeping with the art deco area of Potts Point, Elizabeth Bay and Kings Cross.  Patrons are greeted by the maitre de at a desk with mirrored glass top.  “There wasn’t any luxurious late night dining experience venue and this encompasses a bar, supper club and a disco downstairs,” says Cullinan.

“People are starting to eat later and later in Sydney.  People are travelling from interstate, flying in around 7pm, so it’s 9pm to 10pm by the time they get here.”

Cullinan says Kings Cross has re-emerged as a nightclub district in the past five years, with an interesting, healthy scene, shedding the sleaze of underworld bars and clubs.

Newer venues include Dragonfly, Tatler, Hugo’s, Moulin Rouge and the Sapphire Suite.  “The Cross has become more of a safe haven.”  “Five to 10 years ago a girl would feel a bit shaky about catching a cab.”

“There’s half a dozen clubs and bars opening in the next five months.”  “It’s going to be crazy.”

The city centre is host to more corporate dining and wining experiences including The Establishment, Hemmesphere, and Tank.

Another much bigger bar that has become popular is The Argyle in The Rocks, in one of Australia’s oldest surviving commercial buildings, the Argyle Stores.  It has a cobblestoned courtyard bar and five diverse bars, as well as a private lounge, the Reibey Room.

The Parisian-style Kellett Street in Kings Cross set the scene for change back in the late 70s/80s when Sydney sophisticates would dine at the gorgeous Italian restaurant Natalini’s and then go for coffee to the ground-breaking Deans cafe.

Now it’s full of great bars, such as Aperitif, a wine bar which also serves beautiful food, with a long, thin room opening out to a cosy rear area – all bordello red walls and dim lighting.  As they say, don’t come expecting double-entendre cocktails and sticky liqueurs.

No Sydney bar-hopping night would be complete without a final stop-off at Baron’s in Roslyn Street at Kings Cross where you feel like you’re in somebody’s lounge room, especially when the fire is lit in winter.  But sadly the old stalwart is said to be closing.

Then a walk down the hill to a very handy hotel, Vibe Rushcutters. Beats trying to find a taxi at 2am, especially if you’re from out of town.

WHAT’S HOT

The Bentley Restaurant and Bar

The Lincoln

Will and Toby’s Taylor Square

The Argyle

What else is new: Favela in Kellett Way, Potts Point; Kells Kitchen, in Kings Cross; Rambutan, Oxford Street, Darlinghurst; Bubble Lounge at Circular Quay; Foveaux Restaurant & Bar in Surry Hills.

Accommodation: Vibe Hotel Rushcutters Bay

The writer was a guest of Tourism New South Wales.

Report by The Mole from AAP