Bentley Group’s new crimson-hued cocktail bar is the beating heart of late ’80s opulence

There’s a certain amount of delicious irony in one of Australia’s greatest sommeliers opening a cocktail bar. But then, if any restaurateur was to decide to switch lanes without indicating, it would be Nick Hildebrandt.

He and Bentley Group business partner Brent Savage have been busy. Over the past few years, they have opened several restaurants ( Watermans, King Clarence, Eleven Barrack and most recently Ashe ), but this bar might just be their most ambitious project to date.

Long-time Bentley collaborator Pascale Gomes-McNabb, along with Chris Grinham from H&E Architects, is responsible for the design of Vespertine. Crimson walls, chilli-red neon lights, blackened mirrors that never quite throw a reflection, and discreet antechambers dressed with thick red curtains give a generous dose of Less Than Zero -era Bret Easton Ellis. Empty, it feels a little like an adults-only sauna. Full, it’s the beating heart of late 𝄒80s opulence.

For the Chartreuse slushie, a herbaceous mix of apple and lime juices, fresh tarragon and nutmeg joins Hildebrandt’s favourite bright green herbal liqueur. It’s icy, it’s fun, it’s refreshing, but the key lime margarita is the one to set your watch to. Here, key lime juice and makrut lime leaf-infused tequila is mixed with agave syrup, carbonated, and served on the rocks. Beautifully viscous, with an almost sherbet-y finish.

It’s one of a couple of drinks that serve as a cheeky wink to Eleven Barrack’s dessert menu. The other is the rum baba for two. The luxurious, velvety mix of rum, Grand Marnier and vanilla is garnished with a little chunk of baba on top, which gets a soaking from the cocktail as you pour it. It serves as an excellent dessert drink post-fried chicken sandwich.

Here, a soft milk bun houses juicy chicken that’s been fried till its exterior is all crunchy and gnarled and then laid to rest on a bed of sweet, deeply caramelised French onion jam, comte, a slick of aioli and beer-pickled onions.

The menu comes courtesy of chef Khanh Nguyen and his newly opened Ashe, next door. It’s a mix of bar-friendly snacks (hello, spongy on the bottom, crunchy on top prawn toast with a caesar salad dressing) and a couple of restaurant signatures such as the pâté en croute. That’s char siu-marinated pork jowl layered with gelatinous black fungus, hoisin and Maggi seasoning-flavoured aspic, all tightly cocooned inside a water pastry served brasserie style with cornichons and seeded mustard. It’s a good one to share, as is the little flatbread spread with Laughing Cow cheese and layered with silky slices of mortadella.

Offset all that salty richness with a Dalmatian – a light, clean, semi-sweet mix of vodka, grapefruit and black pepper syrup, served tall. Or maybe it’ll be the dryer, slightly more serious Black Forest highball, combining Cynar, kirsch, whisky, Chambord, berry tea and plum bitters.

Prefer wine? Hildebrandt will be delighted.