A new rooftop venue from growing hospitality group Salt Meats Cheese, Bar Ombré, has opened in Circular Quay.
It’s the first bar for the group and follows an exciting period of growth for Salt Meats Cheese. Since launching in 2012 – four years after Edoardo Perlo and Stefano de Blasi moved to Sydney from Northern Italy – the group has expanded to include nine concepts in Sydney and Brisbane.
Bar Ombré (named after the gradual blending of one colour hue to another) is a light and bright rooftop bar with colourful furniture, lush greenery and a vibrant menu.
In terms of food, the Bar Ombré menu celebrates simple flavours, with daily stretched cheese, cured meats and fresh Ligurian-style home-made pesto. Guests can start with an antipasto board before moving on to plates of fried calamari, San Daniele prosciutto and burrata with grilled eggplant, or marinated white anchovies with fresh tomato, herbs and breadcrumbs.
The drinks list is at the heart of the venue and complements the food selection and rooftop setting.
Fresh and simple, it is full of classic and bespoke European cocktails and spritz – such as the pear and maple old fashioned, the ‘Forget Me Not’ with Beefeater gin, lychee liqueur, St Germain, lime juice, egg whites and plum bitters, a vanilla and grapefruit barrel-aged Negroni, the ‘Smokin’ Nights with Averna Amaro, mezcal, Angostura bitters, vanilla syrup, cream and cinnamon.
Italian wines are served alongside new world drops with a focus on biodynamic, organic and vegan wines.
Happy Hour is 4-6pm every day and will include drinks such as $5 beers and wines, $10 spritz like the Ombré Spritz with St Germain, mint, fresh lime, prosecco and soda, and $20 cocktail carafes including Aperol Spritz, Sangria, Margarita, and homemade soda of the day with your choice of spirit.
Following happy hour, there will be free bar snacks from 6pm-8pm where guests can expect dishes like truffled popcorn, wood-fired crackers and pesto, smoked olives, cured pancetta with chilli and pepper, truffle pecorino, and roasted peppers with salsa verde.
“Bar Ombré is laidback yet sophisticated, a place where you can drop in for a quick bite at the bar and end up sharing a table with new friends you’ve just met”, says Edoardo Perlo, co-founder.
“We’re thrilled to expand our hospitality offering starting with a relaxed bar where locals can enjoy life’s simple pleasures and embrace Sydney’s golden hours”.
Bar Ombré (Level 3, Gateway, 1 Macquarie Place, Circular Quay) is open Monday to Saturday from 11:30am – late.
