We're a long way from New York City's Lower East Side, but it'll feel a whole lot closer (for at least one night) when celebrated speakeasy-style cocktail bar Death & Co hits Down Under. The NYC team will be visiting three much-loved venues across Australia for a series of cocktail-fuelled dinners.
Out to offer locals a taste of their contemporary drinks mastery, Death & Co's David Kaplan and Alex Day are swinging past Melbourne laneway bar Trinket for two nights. The Wednesday night session has already sold out but there are still some left for Tuesday, February 4.
Launched in 2006, the NYC bar is considered something of a pioneer in the world of modern cocktail bars, having scored a slew of big-time awards, played host to a roll-call of bartending legends and birthed its share of now-iconic cocktail creations.
Each of the Aussie dinners will see the team showcase five crafty concoctions, matched with five courses from the host venue. The tour's a collaboration with US label Aviation Gin, which just so happens to be owned by your good mate Ryan Reynolds, so you can expect lots of gin. There will be sips like the Have At It welcome shot, blending Dry Sack Sherry, gin, lemon juice and grapefruit, and the Trust Fall: a fusion of Aviation gin, pisco and vermouth, finished with lychee liqueur, raspberry, absinthe and Peychaud's Bitters.
At Trinket's dinner, you'll find the booze carefully paired with dishes like a wallaby tartare with Davison plum and gin jam, fried quail with Yarra Valley caviar, and a lamington-inspired take on a Magnum ice cream for dessert.
Tickets to each event clock in at $95 per person (or $145 if you also want a signed copy of Death & Co's own book, Cocktail Codex). All that should leave you feeling pretty inspired to try out some drinks wizardry in your own home bar.