Fortunate Son bar to open opposite Enmore Theatre

In a globe-trotting 30-year career, Sydney bartender Jason Crawley has nabbed just about every bar award and accolade going.

Yet there's one thing he hasn't done and that's swing open the saloon doors at his own bar.

Until now. Fortunate Son will open in six weeks, opposite the Enmore Theatre.

If it sounds a little like the equivalent of Meryl Streep directing her first film, the winner of last year's outstanding contribution gong at the Bartender Magazine Australian Bar Awards has decided to join the young bucks with a start-up.

Crawley and his business partner Dylan Howarth have picked the best bits of their favourite bars for inspiration.

"It'll have a saloon vibe but feel like a neighbourhood bar," Crawley says.

And the name, a nod to the Creedence Clearwater Revival track of the same name, will push a strong music theme.

"It's all about the music. Piano Man on Friday night, Tiny Dancer on Saturday," the veteran says.

Crawley, who has worked everywhere from Hemmesphere to The Grand Pacific Blue Room and China Jump in Hong Kong, has in more recent years opened a syrup company and The Drink Cabinet.

"We'll run our agency out of the back of the bar," he says.

It's a growing trend in Sydney, with the Four Pillars Gin and Drinks Lab, opening early 2020 (all going well with approvals) in the Bussell Bros building near The Dolphin Hotel in Surry Hills.

Four Pillars co-founder Stuart Gregor explains it will give the company a Sydney base to show its wares and also sell a range of gin-based products it has developed, including gin salt and vinegar chips.

Crawley is the first to admit running his agency and dealing with clients will have its challenges.

"What could possibly go wrong," he says.