The growing area of Barangaroo now has a new watering hole with the opening of Champagne and cocktail lounge, Solero Bar.
Located on the street level of a historical heritage building at 36 Hickson Road, the team behind Solera said their vision is to merge the old with the new.
“The building is amazing, a heritage building around 170 years old, and it used to be a light bulb factory – so we’ve made a couple of signature drinks served in a lightbulb. We’re going to use descriptions on the menu like low voltage, high voltage and things like that,” renowned bartender Marian Beke, told BARS&clubs.
Owners Scott Bayly, Ty Van Emden and Roman Kristek have pulled together a highly talented team including Beke, who has created the cocktail list.
“For the soft launch we’ll release eight, nine or 10 cocktails max,” Beke said. “In January they’re going to launch the full menu which is going to have around 20 drinks.
“We’ll have a take on a pickleback – but what we did is take the gherkins and using a centrifuge we drew out flavour from the gherkin. We also Irish whiskey, blood orange marmalade, a touch of lemon, chili flakes and then a grenadine based on red wine, beetroot brine, and balsamic vinegar. It’s savoury, like a whiskey, sweet and sour take on a pickleback.”
Boasting a Champagne lit including Leclerc Briant, Jerome Dehours, Benoit Dehu, Nicolas Maillart and Ulysse Collin; Solera Bar is the first venue in Australia to boast a built-in table cooling system, Kaelo, which takes the Champagne drinking experience to a new and exciting level.
The venue also has a menu created by chef Tony Gibson, which aims to complements the cocktails and Champagnes. Design team Steel and Stitch has worked the interior to incorporate heritage elements of the building, along with modern touches.
Solera Bar opened its doors on Monday, 11 December.
