1/5/09 – Bar Zine has always thought alcohol and books go together – literature wouldn’t be the same if writers were teetotallers – so it makes sense to host bookclubs in bars. Drift (on top of Bondi’s Ravesis) has realised this by launching its monthly book club to be held on the last Tuesday of every month. The author locked in for May is Philip Jones, winner of the non-fiction category in the 2008 Prime Minister Literary Awards for his book Ochre and Rust: Artefacts and Encounters on Australian Frontiers. He will be discussing this book as well as a mention of his new, as yet untitled, book.

Meanwhile, one of Drift’s closest competitors, Bondi Social, has launched their new winter menu. As with Drift, Bondi Social also features Peking duck pancakes with cucumber and hoisin sauce (perhaps this should become Bondi’s signature dish), with other wintry meals including chicken saltimbocca with toffee tomato and lime hollandaise as well as pomegranate glazed beef with walnut tabouli.

Another approach to winter is to shut down and refurbish, which is what Lady Lux is doing – they claim they’ll re-open on Friday 5th June in time for the long weekend.

This might drive their customers into The Club, the latest venture by Julian Tobias. Taking over from the Dancers strip club (they’ve even kept the dancer’s pole), this is an odd venue filled with chesterfield sofas, oversized bouncers (even by bouncer standards), and a courtyard area decorated with garden furniture and a view of drunken backpackers trying their luck at the clubs across the road. The Corona beers cost us $9.50 each, making this the most expensive bar we’ve been to for a while, although we did like the DJ playing retro tunes such as the Grease title song. It’s located underneath Hugos at 33 Bayswater Road, Kings Cross.

 

Related posts:

1. Grab a Coldie! book review
2. Exclusive clubs in Sydney (and a mini review of Beach Haus)
3. Underground (and not-so-underground) clubs in Sydney
4. Day of the Dead margarita and other cocktail recipes from Drift