Liquid & Larder is used to being underground. The hospitality group’s iconic and dearly missed first venue, Grandma’s Bar, was one of Sydney’s original basement bars; and the crew decided to stay below the surface with CBD restaurants Bistecca and The Gidley. A few years ago, the team finally moved up to street level, with The Rover and Alfie’s.
So the opening of Lottie is an unusual milestone for Liquid & Larder: when it opens in January, the Mexican restaurant and bar will be the first time the team’s ever done something on a rooftop.
“I wouldn’t say the intention was to do so many basements, but 15 years ago, landlords didn’t know what to do with them, so they were affordable,” says group director James Bradey. “And then one just led to the next, and it allowed us to create an environment that people couldn’t get distracted from.”
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SIGN UPVisitors to Bistecca and The Gidley in particular can vouch for that feeling. When you enter the underground venues, you’re separated from the outside world – transported to a deliberately designed domain. Lottie’s fully retractable roof keeps it a winner throughout the seasons, with full view of the weather outside. For a crew that’s used to creating ambiance in the shadows, it’s a big step.
It’s this that makes Bradey glad that the view – at the top of The Eve Hotel, hotly anticipated in Redfern – is good, but not amazing.
“We were drawn to it because it’s not a harbour-front pristine view, which the customer then gets distracted with,” he says. “Although some venues on the harbour are nice, a lot of them don’t have great service and are vastly expensive because their rent’s so high – so they compensate for it by saying, ‘Look how beautiful our view is’.
“This view is cool and interesting, but it’s not necessarily touristic, so we can still create that insular environment.”
When Broadsheet toured the Lottie site earlier this month, it was still very much a work-in-progress – but it’s already a real looker. The George Livissianis-designed rooftop space (and pool) is the perfect companion to the luxe look of The Eve’s building, by architects SJB. There’ll be a mix of dining options: about 70 per cent of seats will be bookable, with the remaining given over to walk-ins, most of whom will find themselves sitting at the large wraparound bar that frames the open kitchen.
Although all of Liquid & Larder’s other venues – including the soon-to-open Bar Julius in the hotel’s lobby – have a distinct European lineage, the team’s focusing on Mexican food here.
Lottie – a riff on elote, which is Spanish for “corn cob” – will make all of its tortillas in-house, and will look to all parts of Mexico for inspiration.
“I’m excited for the vibrancy and freshness of the menu,” says Bradey. “One of the stand-out dishes we’re doing is a pork jowl, slow-cooked in Jarritos Mexican cola, served in a DIY-taco style. I’m also looking forward to the Murray Cod pilbil, cooked in a banana leaf.” Those dishes will be joined by a roster of punchy, mezcal- and tequila-forward cocktails.
Between Bar Julius downstairs, the in-room dining, and Lottie up top, Liquid & Larder’s inaugural hotel venues are bound to impress visitors to The Eve. But Lottie and the rest of the rooftop will have its own elevator and entrance, so it won’t be one of those awkward situations where non-hotel guests are treated like second-class citizens.
“This is a 102-room hotel, so if we were only targeting guests, we would fail,” Bradey says. “We really targeted Sydney first, asked ourselves what Sydney wanted and pushed the boat out to do something exciting.”
Lottie opens at 8 Baptist Street, Redfern, on January 20, 2025.
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