More Small Bars for Sydney

It hasn't taken long for the intimate spaces to catch on, writes Rachel Olding. The smile on Clover Moore's face as she opened Absinthe Salon last month said a lot - and it had nothing to do with the supposed hallucinogenic effects of the green spirit served at the Surry Hills micro-bar.

"This small bar is what I had in mind when I worked to reform the Liquor Act: intimate spaces that provided an alternative to the large beer barns," Cr Moore said.

Success is not a word used often by Sydneysiders to describe the efforts of local and state governments, but 18 months after the Lord Mayor helped make running a small bar feasible, the verdict is that the new laws have been just that.

The Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing has approved 22 small bar licences and is considering another 22. These intimate drinking holes, owned mostly by young entrepreneurs, are dotted around the city centre and inner suburbs such as Darlinghurst, Surry Hills, Erskineville and Bondi, and soon Crows Nest and Neutral Bay. Next week, the western-styled Shady Pines Saloon opens in Crown Street, Darlinghurst, and the French bistro-bar Grasshopper opens in York Street in the city. While Melbourne is the small-bar mecca that Cr Moore hopes to mimic, Sydney's scene has developed into something of its own.

Source: Sydney Morning Herald