First Look: Glebe’s Whimsical New Bar Kisa Leaves the Seriousness Behind

Kisa’s story is as romantic as its name. Couple (and long-time hospo workers) Sophia Richardson and Wez Smeda-Healy welcomed Sydney to their bar last week, in a heritage terrace on a corner in Glebe.

The pair met working at a Melbourne cafe. Bartender Smeda-Healy had cut his teeth at local heavyweights like Bar Planet, Deadwax, The Waratah and Piccolo, and Melbourne’s Borsch, Vodka & Tears. Richardson was on the day shift, until she decided to jump into the evening scene – working at wine bars while they hunted for a spot to call their own.

Now they have it, where pendant lights glow warmly above a room dressed with a happy jumble of second-hand furniture, and hand-painted tiles decorate the wall behind the bar.

Smeda-Healy is behind said bar shaking up a considered list of cocktails – four alcoholic, one mocktail – and pouring a cheekily named shot called Polish Bitch, a heady mix of vodka, cherry syrup and chilli.

One of the opening week’s more popular pours is the take on a shandy, featuring vodka, a Czech digestif called Becherovka, pilsner and lemon – it’s sweet and light enough to get even a non-beer drinker on board. Then there’s the fun fizzy one that’s third on the list, which “tastes like an apple crumble” with Zubrowka vodka, green apple cordial, honey and soda water.

Kisa – a Russian term of endearment, literally meaning “kitty” – reflects Richardson’s Russian and Polish heritage. The menu does the same, meaning there’s “vodka and cherries and lots and lots of Eastern European flavours and rye bread,” she says.

It’s been a community effort making the butter yellow bar what it is. Sommelier friend Debra Navaratnam (ex-Sixpenny, Paradise) helped curate a 38-drop wine list that Richardson says “leaves the seriousness behind”, with 11 by-the-glass options and bottles from Georgia, the Czech Republic and Slovenia. The teamwork continues through to the fit-out.

One of the bar’s most darling features is the painted backbar, which was designed by another friend of the team, artist Kate Howlett. The inspiration for her intricately painted tiles came from Williamsburg bar Deux Chats, but the brief was pure Richardson. “I said, ‘I want it girly-wirly. I want, you know, whimsy. I want it cute, for the girls.’ And now we’ve got beautiful flowers and cherubs and moons and stars.”

The food menu is short and snacky – we’re in bar bar territory. At the moment, you’ll find a fluffy slab of focaccia with whipped anchovy butter, fat gordal olives and a moreish whipped butterbean dip from friend and caterer Eli Tillett, of Their Kitchen, which is revved up with mustard, caraway and dill oil. Soon, Richardson says, there will be an antipasto plate with “a nice jam and some pickled stuff”, most of which will be sourced from Newtown’s Marani Deli.

There will also be house-made cakes. “I’m going to bake a sweet little treat every day,” says Richardson. “Whether it’s a tart or a cake or something using seasonal fruit. It just hasn’t happened [yet] due to me being tired, but it’ll be happening.” 

Cake and cocktails. Wine and cheese. Richardson and Smeda-Healy. Some things just go together.

Kisa
Shop 1/198-206 St Johns Road, Glebe 

Hours:
Wed & Thu 4pm–11pm
Fri & Sat 2pm–midnight

@kisa.sydney
barkisa.com