Restaurant Awards

Gourmet Traveller Hospitality Honours List 2020: quarantini time

A toast to the clever booze offerings that helped us see our glasses as half full instead of half empty.

The Everleigh Bottling Co. Melbourne Mixtape, a mixed pack of ready-to-drink cocktails.

Tash Sorenson (main)

The Everleigh Bottling Co.’s ready-to-drink cocktails

The Everleigh Bottling Co. released two “volumes” of the Melbourne Mixtape – a mixed pack of ready-to-drink cocktails from some of the city’s best cocktail bars. The pre-mixed tipples served as a tasty way to support small bars as they remained closed through Melbourne’s lockdown, with all proceeds going directly to the bars involved. The second volume included drinks from Above Board, Bar Americano, Bar Margaux, Black Pearl, Byrdi, Capitano, Mjolner and The Everleigh. Now that’s something worth toasting.

The Everleigh Bottling Co. Melbourne Mixtape.

(Photo: Tash Sorenson)

Juice Traders bottle shop

Starting an online bottle shop was something Leigh Street Wine Room owners Sali and Nathan Sasi had always wanted to do, but never quite had the time. Then COVID-19 hit and Juice Traders finally came to fruition. “The Adelaide Hills has some incredible producers and winemakers – and we’d have customers in our venue drinking it and asking ‘This stuff is so good, how come you can’t buy it from bottle shops?’ – so we knew there was a market out there,” says Nathan. “It’s amazing the great opportunities that can come out of a bad situation.”

Juice Trader’s Nathan Sasi.

PS40’s Sofa Series

This Sydney bar was one of the first to offer their world-class cocktails in delivery form, with owner Michael Chiem hand-delivering bottled tipples on his Vespa. Dubbed the “Sofa Series”, the cocktails encapsulated PS40’s enthusiasm and originality.

Jacoby’s + Earl’s Juke Joint: cocktails to go

The Enmore tiki bar and Newtown cocktail den both bottled their signature cocktails in playful hand-labelled vessels at the very beginning of lockdown. Now they have become permanent offerings – Jacoby’s partnered with Curatif to release a canned Mai Tai, while the Earl’s range is available at BWS.

Continental Deli: cocktails in a can

Success comes in cans, not can’ts – especially when it comes to Sydney’s Continental Deli, which began delivering its popular canned cocktails mid-lockdown. The bar and restaurant’s Mar-tinny – rechristened the Quaran-tinny – was offered alongside Can-hattans and Cosmopoli-tins. Cocktails weren’t the only thing to get the tinned treatment, with soups and stews also on the menu, along with the delightful flan in a can.

1889 Enoteca wine delivery

The team at Brisbane’s 1889 Enoteca is typically known for recreating the robust flavours of Rome. But during peak-Covid-19 the restaurant moved into the burgeoning wine-delivery market. Vino a Casa was born out of circumstance, but met with a sell-out response, with packs of hard-to-find minimal-intervention wine delivered straight to your door. Its ongoing success has seen it become a permanent fixture.

Words by Grace Mackenzie

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The GT Hospitality Honours List: Honourable Mentions

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