Bar Heather

Chef Ollie Wong-Hee has clocked time in the kitchen at Mr. Wong, Sixpenny, and Ester—some of Sydney's best restaurants—but these days you'll find him at Bar Heather in Byron Bay. 

Yes, the ultra-talented chef is headlining the new Parisian-inspired natural wine bar from the team behind Byron's Luna Wine Store.

The wine game is serious here: owners James Audas and Tom Sheer are sommeliers-turned-wine-importers, whose resumes include Noma, Oscillate Wildly, and LP’s Quality Meats. Under Lo-Fi wines, Audas and Sheer are the energy behind Australia's recent influx of really good nattie wines.

Meanwhile, pouring wine at Bar Heather is Ollie Smith (yes, another Ollie), who was previously the somm at 10 William Street (yes, another one of Sydney's best). 

There are some 650 natural and biodynamic wines on offer at Bar Heather, a rotating list sourced from a roster of the world's best winemakers and the most treasured parts of the Lo-Fi cellar. So naturally, the menu is natural wine-friendly, made up of snacks like fried bread with garlic scapes, betel leaf with pork and pickles, and egg noodles with cuttlefish and squid ink. 

Bar Heather is handsome too—inside there's a peachy mortadella-coloured horseshoe bar, aged green leather banquettes, and French wooden flooring. Kick off your night with the Bar Heather Half Martini, sink into the afro beats, funk, and late-disco vibes beaming out of the speakers, and settle in for the night. 

Bar Heather is another on a neat list of top-tier new venues to open in Byron in 2022, following the likes of Moonlight, Pixie, and Belongil Beach Italian.

Image credit: Jess Kearney