Sepia Wine Bar

Y'all have been to the restaurant for chef Martin Benn's spectacular prog-fish cookery, but have you perched at the bar with a glass of wine? It's a bit of a local secret. And the best bit is there's a really accomplished list of bar eats, completely different to the restaurant menu.

Sommelier Rodney Setter is behind the bar pouring the wine (the guy's got an insane collection of Greek drops, not to mention an amazing collection of Italian varietals). So one hand, you get all the joys of the restaurant and on the other, it's a standalone bar. That's especially good as the restaurant proper is really rocking it at the moment and it ain't easy getting a table. There's enough on the bar food menu that you could actually make a dinner out of what's on offer, from salt-baked beetroot with slices of green apple, yoghurt dressing and plump golden raisins to light, creamy chicken liver parfait with toastlets. Or there's always the enormous plate of cured meats, piled medieval-style with a thicket of grissini (aka breadsticks) on top. Not that you have to eat, mind. The wine list is prodigious, always updated, and filled with things you'll want to drink even if you don't know it yet. Every month there's a flight on offer (at the moment it's chilled reds) where you get to try three different wines for $20.