The Bar

Set within the Intercontinental Double Bay, The Bar is restaurateur Maurice Terzini’s ode to the glamorous hotel bars of New York, London and Rome. It’s also a return to form for the hotel which, in its heyday as the Ritz Carlton, hosted luminaries such as Princess Diana, David Bowie and Elton John.

Martini trolleys and tableside service are the pillars of the experience here, with a classic cocktail and food menu to match. The menu is loaded with dishes that wouldn’t look out of place at a hotel bar in the early to mid-20th century: N25 kaluga caviar, blinis with cultured cream and chives, beef tartare and a cheeseburger. Cocktails are classics with a twist, with a particular focus on French and Italian vermouths, and herb- and citrus-based liqueurs.

The space itself has been made over by design firm Alfred, which pulled silverware and signed photographs from the hotel’s archives to help inform what they describe as a supper club mixed between a classic cocktail bar and a 1920s piano lounge. Like its overseas counterparts, such as the American Bar at London’s Savoy or Bemelmans at The Carlyle in New York, a resident pianist take to the keys three nights a week.