This week, Drinks At Work is in Adelaide.
Lachy Harrison opens his new bar today.
This new bar comes from Harrison and the team behind Bar Bar which — if you’ll recall — was named the best bar in Adelaide and South Australia at the Boothby Best Bars SA Awards back in June.
The new bar is No. 6 East, and up a flight of stairs on East Terrace in the CBD, you’ll find a bar that is designed to welcome you in the way you’d be welcomed in a good mate’s living room.
And the good news is, No. 6 East opens tonight from 6pm. I spoke to Harrison a couple weeks back to learn more about it, why he’s leaving Bar Bar to run the show at No. 6, the pressures and barriers to opening a bar, and loads more.
Take a listen below, or search Drinks At Work through your podcast player of choice, and get a look at some key highlights below.
What to expect at No. 6 East
No. 6 East opens in Adelaide tonight to the public, and if you’re visiting, once you head up the stairs from East Terrace, you’ll land in what Harrison calls the lobby: there’s a coat rack in the corner, low seating, and a fireplace.
“The whole idea of it is you’re walking into someone’s house,” says Harrison.
It’s someone’s house, so there’ll be a dining room, too, complete with dining table and chairs, and a wide terrace overlooking the street and parklands below.
“The idea behind it, the the whole tagline, is welcome home,” Harrison says.
There will be seats at the bar, however. “I can’t do a bar without seats at the bar, I refuse,” Harrison says.
No. 6 East comes from the team behind Bar Bar, Jennie Wine Bar, Malt & Juniper, and Alfred’s: Scott Quick, Lachy’s brother Matt Harrison, and Scott Taddeo, with the addition of Josh Lever of Malt & Juniper. Lachy is leaving the stick at Bar Bar to run this one.
And — importantly — there will be a Pina Colada. Listen to the episode for more.
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Bar Peripheral
Level 2, 447 Pulteney St · @bar_peripheral
“Everyone always recommends it, and there’s a reason for it,” says Harrison. “Go see [Bar Peripheral owner and bartender] Vinnie, book in online, go sit there. Never order a Dirty Martini from Vinnie. He’ll nearly throw you out of the venue. But ask for his Martini.” Harrison loves to take out of twiners to Bar Peripheral, precisely because it’s a little bit divisive; it’s a bar you’ll either love or you’ll hate, and that’s by design (the bar’s tagline is ‘not for everyone’). “That’s why I love taking people there, ‘cause it almost puts them on edge. And you wanna feel something when you go to a bar. You don’t wanna sit down and scroll, ‘Oh look at this video that I saw.’ You wanna be engaged with. And Vinnie forces you to be engaged.”
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Udaberri
11–13 Leigh St · udaberri.com.au · @udaberri_adl
“It was one of the first [small bars] to start up the laneways for Leigh Street and Peel Street. They steered the ship, and they still have the cheapest Negroni in Adelaide at $18.”
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Clever Little Tailor
19 Peel St · @cleverlittletailor
“We used to go in there [after work]. That was the knockoff spot back in the day. And it still is going strong, go there for a little nip of bourbon and a butcher of beer — a little boilermaker to finish the night off. It’s one of those heritage places that has never gone out of fashion, and never will.”
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Nowhere Bar
170 Hutt St · @nowherebar.adl
“I’ve got two very good mates, Matt and Tom, who have opened up Nowhere Bar,” Harrison tells us. “They’ve built all the furniture in there, some of the seating, they’ve got a little outside beer garden and they got old church pews and cut them in half to make the bar seating, which is wicked. Just wine, not crazy cocktails, but they’ve got a good whiskey selection, good gins, and again, it’s just that hangout spot and that’s why I love it so much.”
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Latteria
185 Hutt St · latteriabar.com.au · @latteriabar
“Latteria is across the road [from Nowhere Bar], a great spot to go hang out, with wicked cocktails.”
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Harry’s Bar on Grenfell
Level 1, 12 Grenfell St · harrysongrenfell.com.au · @harrysongrenfell
“It’s a balcony pub. It’s two stories up. It has an entire turfed grass terrace. They do $8 imperial pints on a Thursday.”
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OMADA Bar & Grill
46 Currie St · omadabargrill.com.au · @omada.bargrill
Omada is “a new venue this year,” says Harrison. “It’s a Greek restaurant, very high-end Greek food. It’s not your yeeros on the corner stall. It’s a Simon Kardachi venue, and they have put together one of the [best] teams. It’s a restaurant, but the guys who do the cocktails in there, they have the Dirty Batanga, Baklava Martini — go in there, get a little orzo pasta with their Bologna steak on top.”
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Jennie Wine Bar
7 Peel St · jenniewinebar.com.au · @jennie.adl
“Going in there, getting yourself a glass of Chablis, having some fish fingers, taramasalata on toast, anchovy soldiers, some burata on top of some Red Rock Deli chippies. It is just a match made in heaven. It’s gorgeous.”
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Longplay Bistro
131 Pirie St · longplaybistro.com.au · @longplaybistro
“Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a bar, it’s definitely a restaurant, but I go up to Longplay. I get their ox tongue skewers. They also do beetroot skewers for vegos. Sit there, have one of their Freezer Door Martinis, hang out there for a couple hours.”
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Pinco Italo
50 Exchange Pl · pinco.com.au · @pinco__italo
“It’s a little Italian restaurant. One of my very good mates is the head chef in there. His chicken cotoletta is one of the best dishes to have with a beer. It’s perfect. And he also does a bloody rice pudding creme brulee. I mean that’s cool. “That’s what I mean about turning restaurants into bars. I love it. It’s the best way to go out. And there’s nothing wrong with going in for half an hour, have a snack, bugger off to the next place. It’s a great way to experience Adelaide.”
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One last thing
The best line in this chat doesn’t come from Lachy, but from a friend of his on the first chaotic opening day at Jennie Wine Bar.
“Mate, take a step back. Enjoy this. You don’t get to open many venues in your life.”
Congrats to the team at No. 6 East on getting the doors open — I hope you have a blast.
