Edison's Bar

Sydney has welcomed bars inspired by Guatemalan owls, 1930s crime gangs, Italian rock stars, and legendary madams, so why on earth not a little northern beaches bolt-hole inspired by the great Thomas Edison?

Sounds like a bright idea to me.

But while Edison was one of the greatest inventors of all time, his namesake bar hasn't done anything quite so revolutionary.

Bondi Hardware manager Mark Turner and Aoife Burns have taken over the tiny, narrow shop formerly occupied by Park Street Social Club, and it looks almost identical, except for a few new contraptions on the walls - antique frames, old wheels and exposed light bulbs, a la Edison.

The whitewashed walls are still there. The huge concrete bar that splits the narrow room in half (and unfortunately deprives it of a natural flow) is still there. It still looks like a room straight from the pages of Belle magazine. But, as with Park Street Social, it doesn't quite nail the cosy, intimate, kinetic vibe that you're hoping for.

It also doesn't help that, on the particular night that Barhop visits, it's cold inside. And there's a lot of concrete.

Rather than an all-out Edison-style makeover, however, Turner and Burns have gone for subtlety, with an understated steampunk vibe and a cocktail list with a scientific bent.

The ''prescriptions'' are beautifully executed things that experiment with clashing ingredients and plenty of heat.

The Edison's Martini (green chartreuse, sherry, peach liqueur, lemon, celery, $18) has a great kick of spice thanks to the celery, while the Wright Bros (whisky, butterscotch liqueur, pressed apple, lemon, cinnamon, $16) is an excellent pick for those who like a sweet, fruity sipper without getting a bucketful of sugar.

Next to us, a woman is trying the Electric Bulb, a knock-out mix of Grey Goose vodka, yellow chartreuse and beetroot combined with a Sichuan button ($18) - a flower that numbs the mouth and interacts with the other ingredients to create a chocolate-like taste. Unfortunately, there's not enough beetroot to go around and we have to watch from afar.

I could easily work my way through the whole cocktail list, which isn't short of balls - there is plenty of mezcal, chipotle, anise and Pampero.

But alas, red wine is calling on a wintry night and the Tscharke Matching Socks touriga nacional from the Barossa Valley ($10) hits the spot with its smooth, velvety goodness.

It's one of about a dozen mostly South Australian and Kiwi wines, and there are plenty of great little drops to choose from.

The food, by former Bondi Hardware chef Matthew Hopkins, is simple and classy - pulled pork or seafood sliders (which transform into smoked salmon, spinach and hollandaise sliders during brunch service), top-notch marinated olives, a rotating soup of the day, cheese and antipasto, homemade pie, and a lovely take on a Golden Gaytime. It is all delish - not award-winning, but definitely two cuts above normal bar grub.

I'd be happy to make this place my local haunt, but the bar's refined edge sometimes slips into frigidity. You just want to tell Edison to let his hair down, dim the lights, turn the music up, warm up those hard concrete surfaces, and get the good times rolling.

That's the spark they need to get this baby going.

YOU'LL LOVE IT IF … you miss Park Street Social Club.

YOU'LL HATE IT IF … you want a rowdy bar with stacks of character.

GO FOR … Electric Bulb, Wright Bros, pork sliders, Gaytime.