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The Sydney bar scene in 2015: New habitats and habits for drinkers

Callan Boys
Callan Boys

Best bar: Monopole, Potts Point, ticks all the boxes.
Best bar: Monopole, Potts Point, ticks all the boxes.Paul McMahon

COMMENT

The Good

The wagyu burger and Martinez cocktail at Rockpool Bar and Grill.
The wagyu burger and Martinez cocktail at Rockpool Bar and Grill.supplied
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A drinking culture has emerged where blokes won't lose points from their "man licence" for drinking low-alcohol spritzes​ instead of slabs of VB.

"The gender bias for drinks has faded away over the last few years," says Luke Ashton, co-owner of spritz and cocktail bar This Must Be the Place. "I remember there used to be guys asking what kind of glass a cocktails was served in, as if it dictated the drink's manliness. That rarely happens now. People are just enjoying drinks they like they taste of."

This likely owes more to a cultural shift that also sees men dropping serious cash on Aesop products or rolling up their chino cuffs to look like Tintin, but anything that steers Australians towards drinking for enjoyment and socialising instead of bingeing and inebriation is a good thing.

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Supplied

The Bad

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It's been an ordinary year for new bar openings to be excited about. The above mentioned This Must Be the Place started pouring on Oxford Street and holy heck it's great, but, er, yeah. That was about it for big name openings. Dead Ringer from the Bulletin Place crew opens on September 10 in Surry Hills so, without getting too Star Wars on things, there is another hope.

The Ugly

Once upon a time in Newtown you could stumble out of the Townie at 5am, stop by The Crispy Inn, eat a pie on the street and make it home without witnessing someone cop a hit to the back of the head.

The lock-out laws changed that. When the gym-selfie boneheads of the Cross had nowhere left to drink vodka and Red Bull, they brought their thuggery to Newtown, where the pubs are open later and their patrons are nice people. It was pretty grim for a while, so all respect to the King Street and Enmore Road publicans who responded by introducing their own lock-out restrictions.

Where the wombats who "spoil it for the rest us" drink now, I have no idea. They have no natural habitats left near the City so hopefully they'll just hang out at home, picking wings off flies, and the rest of us can eat late-night pastries in peace.

The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2016 will be available for $10 with the Herald this Saturday. It can also be purchased in selected bookshops and online at smhshop.com.au/smhgfg2016 for $24.99.

Callan BoysCallan Boys is editor of SMH Good Food Guide, restaurant critic for Good Weekend and Good Food writer.

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