Eau De Vie

Eau de Vie is one of Sydney's most-awarded cocktail bars. Once a secluded Darlinghurst drinking hole, the bar has since changed addresses, opening up in the basement of a heritage building in the CBD for a new era of late nights and whisky flights. 

Led by the Speakeasy Group, Eau de Vie 2.0 won't reinvent the wheel. Instead, you'll find a similar dimly lit and jazz-soaked atmosphere, the signature whisky room, and private whisky lockers.

Even some of the OG cocktails have made it back onto the menu—like the EDV take on the Espresso Martini. Dubbed "Espresso Zabaione", it comes with your choice of vodka, rum, or whisky. It's stirred down with cold drip coffee and a touch of maple syrup before being topped with a saffron and vanilla mousse that's chilled and frozen with liquid nitrogen. 

Our go-to? The EDV Blazer (an Old Fashioned). It's made with Diplomatico Mantuano rum, whisky, scotch ale, and PX syrup—and comes either blazed and hot or served chilled over a hefty chunk of ice. 

Food at Eau de Vie is designed to pair with cocktails, of course. There's cheese, charcuterie, tinned delicacies, lamb croquettes, fried smoked burrata, a prawn sando, and something sweet called the "foie-rero rocher". In short, a very good hit list of snacks. 

This time around, you can extend your Eau de Vie experience upstairs at The Sanderson—a polished steak saloon headed up by head chef James Green and designed for fancy nights out. 

Image credit: Speakeasy Group

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