The Wine Bar is one of a trio of new venues situated within The International, which you’ll find between Harry Seidler’s iconic “modernist mushroom” and his MLC Centre. When you ascend the dramatic staircase to it, the focus becomes clear.
“As soon as you walk in you see a bank of wineglasses and four or five bartenders waiting behind the bar,” Danny Corbett tells Broadsheet. Corbett is group executive chef for The Point, the hospitality heavyweight behind the CBD’s immensely successful Shell House. As with that project, the Point team wanted each of the venues at the International to have its own discrete identity – and purpose. At the Panorama Bar up top, it’s all about small bites and al fresco-friendly drinks. At The Grill, the focus is on fire-forward refined dining. And The Wine Bar is that rare beast in Martin Place: a wine bar that concentrates on wine.
“The bar is three times the size of the kitchen; there are wine cabinets everywhere. We want to compete with some of the best wine bars in Australia,” says Corbett.
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“The plan is to order in small parcels, taking advantage of cellar releases, focusing on what’s new and exciting in the wine world,” says food and beverage director Alex Kirkwood. “Everyone has their tried-and-true favourites, but we’re offering what’s next, whether that’s a mineral-driven chardonnay, or a beautiful carricante from regional Sicily. We want to share the exciting things we’re drinking and let the list take on its own identity.”
At 250 bottles, the wine list is large enough that Corbett has creative freedom with the food and can trust that plenty of delicious wine pairings will naturally emerge. “Rather than specific dishes with specific wines, we leaned into dishes with acidity, fat and salt, as those elements pair well with wine,” he says.
Snacks and small plates are the focus. Salumi and cheeses start the menu, followed by dishes like eggplant caponata and pine nuts with fresh ricotta and house-made focaccia, and cannelloni filled with prawn mousse, served with fragrant prawn-head bechamel and garlic butter. There are also more substantial plates such as pork collar with preserved lemon and steak frites, while the woodfired pizzette menu is full of little surprises.
“We did a riff on classic marinara using capers and golden [rather than red] tomatoes, topped with fresh oregano and Ortiz anchovies,” Corbett says. “Or there’s bitter friarielli greens with ricotta and dill and a fresh egg yolk broken over the top.”
When it established Shell House, the Point Group proved its skill at opening and running multiple large-scale venues in a single space. The International is no different. At 200 seats, The Wine Bar spans al fresco seating (with a view of Charles Perry’s striking yellow mid-century steel sculpture), a moodily lit indoor space with tables and bar seating, plus a 70-seat private dining room with views of the city.
“We were super keen to do something impactful for the city,” Kirkwood says. “We learned a lot from Shell House, and we thought this was a perfect chance to offer something of a size and scale that doesn’t exist in this part of Sydney.”
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Broadsheet is hosting an Editor's Preview dinner at The Wine Bar this month. This event is available to Broadsheet Access members. Find out more about Broadsheet Access. |
The Wine Bar at the International
25 Martin Place , Sydney
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