Palomino Lounge, Fortunate Son’s Sibling, Delivers New Orleans-Style Drinks and Live-Music Sundays

Dylan Howarth, owner of the newly opened Palomino Lounge, describes his hospo origin story as “a pretty common one”. He needed to pay his rent, so he got a job in a bar. Thirty years later, and he’s considered a heavyweight in the Sydney bar scene.

Howarth’s career has seen him work in cocktail joints throughout America and Australia; teach a bartender training program for the best part of 15 years; and, in 2019, open Enmore Road’s Fortunate Son (together with Jason Crawley, who has since left the business).

Now, Howarth’s going for round two: opening the Pal on the same always-lively street, right next to Enmore Theatre – and diagonally opposite his firstborn, where there’s often a waitlist in play.

“This one’s a little bigger,” Howarth tells *Broadsheet. “We’ve got a lot more seating. We’ve got a big marble bar, an ice-cold air con and a collection of agave spirits I’ve been putting together for a while now.”

On Enmore Road – where Bar Planet pours cosmic Martinis, The Magpie screens sports to go with dark pints of Guinness, and Famelia champions female-produced wines – it can be tricky to nail your point of difference. Here, Howarth is emphasising live music and creative cocktails.

“We wanted to have a bit of fun with the drinks, so we’ve put a slushy machine in,” he says. “We’ve got a frozen Irish coffee – it’s proving super popular.” A frozen Marg also churns, while the inspiration for the other cocktails is pulled from Howarth’s travels, particularly in America.

“We’ve got a drink called the French Quarter. New Orleans is famous for its bourbon milk punches, so this is a nod to that,” he says. “It’s vanilla ice-cream, premium bourbon and a dash of spiced rum, all shaken up together.”

Then there’s the Peruvian Express, a pisco-based Espresso Martini (Howarth says the pisco “loves the espresso”), and the Lone Star Martini, a tequila-based riff on a classic Dirty. There’s champagne by the glass, local reds and whites, and a guest craft beer always on tap. Food isn’t on the menu just yet, but will be eventually.

The cosy interiors – predominantly, and painstakingly, built by Howarth – are heavily inspired by the art deco shapes of the inner west. “All the light shades are original from the ’30s – they’re antique and frightfully fragile,” he says. “We may have outdone it with the green marble bar top, but I think it’s beautiful.”

A laid-back stage comes to life with live music on Sundays. Local artists – like the frill-wearing all-rounder Alice Terry and Ohio-born, Sydney-based multi-instrumentalist Charlie Finn – arrive at the Pal via a partnership with independent local label Evening Records (which is run, serendipitously, by a Fortunate Son regular).

It’s been a labour of love, and Howarth hopes it’s a worthy one. “I’ve really just tried to build bars where I would want to go and hang out with friends.”

Palomino Lounge
134A Enmore Road, Newtown

Hours:
Wed & Thu 5pm–midnight
Fri & Sat 5pm–1am
Sun 5pm–10pm

palominolounge.com.au
@palomino_lounge_enmore