Just Open: The Powder Keg, Potts Point

Don't mind a gin and tonic but hate waiting for one to be mixed? Well wait no more. The Powder Keg has opened and the G and T's are on tap.

Hidden in Potts Point's backstreets, The Powder Keg is a new cocktail and culinary venture from mixologist Grant Collins that meshes quirky and colonial.

The 18th century space has been stripped back to create a classic industrial design. This amalgamation of new and old worlds is the foundation of the business, reflected in the drinks menu.

Collins has injected his signature "molecular mixology" style into cocktail recipes from the 17th and 18th centuries.

The negroni is reimagined as a carbonated mix with candied blood orange and served straight up ($17).

Gin and tonics also take charge, with the aforementioned cocktail tap and a pick-and-mix selection of five house-made tonics, 120 gins, and a large choice of garnish.

Head chef Elijah Holland has created a menu based around fresh European flavours and Dutch food from the 1600s.

The emphasis is on share plates, and dishes include oysters with gin and tonic sorbet, crispy pancetta and shimeji mushrooms and barbecued pinwheeled Cumberland sausage - all of which are under $30.

As for the name? It aims to encapsulate the rebellious ambition of the venture.

"We were inspired by Guy Fawkes, who infamously sat on a powder keg during the Gunpowder Plot," Collins says.

"It's a known fact that Fawkes and his team would have a nip of gin whilst they were plotting."

7 Kellet Street, Potts Point, 8352 0980 www.thepowderkeg.com.au