Water of Life – Grain Bar, Sydney
What makes a bar great?
There are a myriad of details that result in making a bar much more than the mere sum of the individual contributing facets.
A consummate hosts making one welcome from the get go and greeting each guest individually goes a long way, as does table service with attentive staff not merely remembering your order but also acknowledging if there is a need for drinks to be topped up or if there is an indication that something is not up to scratch.
Décor, a rustic, solid bar counter, atmospheric mood lighting, carefully chosen food accompaniments and comfortable chairs do not hurt either, as does a curated playlist at an appropriate volume.
Needless to say, apart from these major components, elegantly presented, innovative as well as classic cocktails and boundary pushing drink offerings is the realm where truly great bars shine
Enter Sydney’s Grain Bar, which not merely ticks all the aforementioned boxes but constitutes one of my favourite third places on terra australis.
What Sardinia-born bar supervisor and host extraordinaire Marco Rosati has accomplished with his team is an example par excellence for the epitome of well-calibrated, warm hospitality, enhanced by an underlying intrinsic motivation to create the best experience possible and a veritable passion for craft spirits, locally brewed craft beer, as well as creative barrel aging twists on classic cocktails.
Needless to say, with “Grain Bar” being a telling name, grains in all varieties and forms take centre stage on both the drinks and food menus, with the bar teams’ focus firmly set on sustainability and the reduction of the bar’s carbon footprint via employing the innovative ecoSPIRITS distribution system, geared at nearly eliminating packaging waste in the premium spirits supply chain.
As if the aforementioned was not enough, I have yet not to discover a new piece de resistance and conversation starter when entering Grain Bar: This time around, Grain Bar offers what must be one of the most luxurious, customised whisky-tasting trolleys in the Southern hemisphere, dedicated to the best and rarest The Macallan has to offer.
Suits’ Harvey Specter would be delighted as not only his favourite expression, i.e. the 18 Year Old, makes a prominent appearance on the trolley flanked by Macallan’s core expressions, but also an 18 Sherry Oak unicorn variant that is exclusive to Grain Bar, in addition to rare collections like The Macallan 25 Sherry Oak, the Rare Cask and the much fabled about, elusive Harmony Collection, which is bound to evoke a Pavlovian reaction from whisky aficionados.
Needless to say, it is quite a gratifying, holistic experience and eye candy galore to see the Macallan trolley navigate its way to your table, which then offers not only the opportunity to sample some of the best Speyside has to offer, but also marks the start of a journey the knowledgeable and engaging staff takes you one.
I cannot wait until the ever-charming Marco Rosati’s newest creation will find its way onto Grain Bar’s cocktail menu at the beginning of 2023, which will see him taking the bar’s commitment to the reduction of food waste and circular economy to the next level by using the savoury and starchy liquid that is pasta water as the foundation to transform his exquisitely creamy cocktail creations to add an idiosyncratic twist.
The fact that this article was almost completed without feeling the need to emphasize that Grain Bar is one of the many five star venues Sydney’s Four Seasons Hotel has to offer in one of the most scenic environments of this earth round, a stone throw away from iconic sights like the Harbour Bridge and one of the most distinctive buildings of the Twentieth century, i.e. the Opera House, speaks volumes about the merits of this cleverly designed and immensely enjoyable establishment.
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image courtesy of Grain Bar
