Bar Awards 2010 honours list

Best Bar Food
 

Winner:Ash St Cellar
What helps make this place special is the excellent service. And, of course, chef Lauren Murdoch's food.
Highly commended: Fico
The bar food they're serving is the cherry on the already many-layered cake of awesome.
Finalist:Longrain
Give us a Bloody Longrain and some caramelised pork hock on the side and we're anybody's.
Finalist:Aperitif
Aperitif's ripper food menu blends classic French fare and Spanish sensations.
Finalist: Rockpool Bar
Neil Perry's newest establishment serves up one of the best burgers the city's ever seen, and classic cocktails.

Best Design
Winner:Rockpool Bar
Thousands of Riedel glasses are stacked in backlit metal brackets like an art installation.
Highly commended:Ivy Pool Club
A little bit like London's Shoreditch House, a little bit Miami, there's truly nothing else like Ivy in Sydney.
Finalist: Kit and Kaboodle
A multi-level drinking playground filled with vintage furntiture.
Finalist:The Local Taphouse
The two-level bar has a very industrial feel, like a mix between a munitions factory and a Victorian railway waiting room.
Finalist:Piano Room
Big leather sofas, lush greenery and a grand piano. It's luxe living, alright, and cocktails to match.

Best Cocktail Bar
Winner: Lotus
For cocktails that not only delight but also challenge the way you approach drinking, you really need to visit Lotus.
Highly commended:Zeta Bar
The space is sophisticated with dark nooks and a long, polished bar.
Finalist: Bayswater Brasserie
The Bayswater dispenses with the set dressing and simply making drinks well and with style.
Finalist: Victoria Room
Warm summer nights with a sugarcane cocktail in hand sets VR apart from the flock.
Finalist: Hugo's
If you're partial to a cocktail, the well trained bartenders are happy to bend to your whim.


Best Wine Bar
Winner: Aperitif
An intimate late-night wine bar with an interesting French wine list and outstanding service.
Highly commended:DeVine
It's the perfect drop-in point for a glass from the incredibly varied wine list. It's a bit of a CBD secret.
Finalist:The Winery by Gazebo
Make sure to book a table as they're packed every night.
Finalist:Wine Odyssey
Get an education while drinking - the perfect combo.
Finalist:Ash St Cellar
Ash Street transports you from the horrors of George Street to the cutest Parisian-style tables and chairs spilling on to the footpath.

Best Pub
Winner:The Friend in Hand
The Friend in Hand is so crammed with bric-a-brac, it's hard to make out the bar. We love it. 
Highly commended:Newport Arms
Take refuge from summer on the spacious terrace at the Newport Arms.
Finalist: Bald Rock Hotel
Outside there's a big courtyard that looks straight over White Bay. A classic Sydney pub.
Finalist:The Cricketers Arms
The bar is filled with a mix of old fellas covered in tattoos and flannies and art students.
Finalist:The Old Fitzroy
A Sydney classic that melds old-school charm with new-school arts and boasts a laksa to be reckoned with.

Best Small Bar
Winner:Café Lounge
The original Sydney small bar: these guys blazed a trail for the rest.
Highly commended:Park St Social Club
Every place should have a bar as cool as this northern beaches gem.  
Finalist: Hive Bar
The Hive Bar is all about keeping it in the 'hood.
Finalist:Safety Wolf
The drinks list is well considered and well priced.
Finalist:Pocket
It's got a great vibe, friendly staff and it's perfect for a pre-dinner drink. 

Bartender of the Year
Winner:Marco Faraone
The godfather of Sydney bars is back at Bacco. All hail.
Highly commended:Petr Dvoracek
Polished and professional, Dvoracek is one to watch.
Finalist:Jeremy Shipley
Shipley's mad skills with a muddler make him a force to contend with.
Finalist: Mikey Enright
Mikey Enright's cocktail list is a mix of classics and upturned forgotten favourites.
Finalist:David Ramos Hernandez
The regular menu is chockers with fantastic, interesting cocktails by bartender David Ramos Hernandez.

Best New Bar

Winner:The Local Taphouse
They serve an amazing range of tasty beers, the food is hearty (dig that Host a Roast) and the fit-out is cool as. A great local.
Highly commended:Bacco
Bacco is a newish addition to Chifley Tower. And we need to let you know that it's a really great bar.
Finalist:Low 302
You'll hear soul, jazz and rock'n'roll and drink kick-arse cocktails.
Finalist: Park St Social Club
PSSC aren't a cocktail bar. They're something better: a small bar offering great service and a very easygoing atmosphere.
 

People's Choice
Winner:Pocket
A stellar new bar with a great vibe and tasty drinks.
Finalist:The Falconer
Stepping off Oxford Street and into the Falconer is like stepping into a European wine bar.
Finalist:The Victoria Room
Summer evenings here sitting in one of the thronelike armchairs with a cocktail in hand.

Hall of Fame
Bayswater Brasserie
The Bays continues to set the benchmark when it comes to Sydney boozing.

Bar of the Year
Rockpool Bar
Enter the era of damning the credit crunch. Enter Rockpool Bar – the most stunning, classy cocktail bar in town.

Sydney Bar Awards - review and slide show

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