Kiss Kiss Bang Bang Is the New CBD Speakeasy from the Team Behind Mjolner and Eau de Vie
The Bridge Lane bar is opening this week with cocktails in absinthe fountains, live music and fun times till 2am.
Already known for its opulently designed venues and next-level cocktails, the Speakeasy Group — responsible for bringing us Eau de Vie, Mjølner and Nick and Nora's — is looking to turn up the glam and frivolity at its newest venture: Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.
Tucked away on Bridge Lane, and set to open this Wednesday, February 19, the bar is oozing glamour, with colourful velvet furnishings, gold trimmings, glittering chandeliers, mirrors and the odd hanging vine. It's a space where you can have an intimate conversation over a bottle of champagne in a booth, or get up and dance as the night ticks away.
Kitti Gould
Speakeasy Group Co-Owner Sven Almenning says the new venue is inspired by his memories of Sydney's old-school nightlife — how it was back before the lockout laws when he was running Peppermint Lounge in King Cross "nearly twenty years ago". Hoping to help bring back a sense of celebration and fun into the city's bars, Almenning says KKBB will have "delicious and theatrical cocktails, tons of champagne and some awesome live performers paired with DJs to keep the party going until 2am".
Helping to keep the good times rolling is the drinks list, which was designed by former Mjølner Bar Manager Alissa Gabriel, who is now KKBB's assistant venue manager.
Champagne and cocktails are the stars of the show, with the menu promising flirtatious twists on beloved classics. Almenning's favourites are the Kiss & Tell (tequila, coconut, jasmine and grapefruit), the Peppermint Slap (bourbon, Fernet Branca, Butter-Menthol, chocolate and mint) and the Mindfuck Mimosa (with clarified orange juice and your choice of bubbles).
Kitti Gould
Elsewhere on the menu, you'll find shareable drinks (one served in an absinthe fountain) and three half-size cocktails designed to be enjoyed with three snacks. For $65, you'll get a mini cosmopolitan, reworked as a cranberry and lime sorbet topped with your choice of bubbles, paired with a beetroot and cheese-topped lavosh; a Kiss & Tell served with oxheart tomatoes and goat's cheese; and the Bangerang — a boozy mix of vodka, elderflower, plum wine and dry vermouth — accompanied by witlof cups of lobster and garlic butter.
As for the bar's name, it comes from a throwaway comment made by James Bond author Ian Fleming, describing his books as "straight pillow fantasies of the bang-bang, kiss-kiss variety". With the physical bar resembling the barrel of a gun and the rest of the space fitted out with luxurious trimmings suitable for the most suave spy, we think it's only fitting.
Find Kiss Kiss Bang Bang on Bridge Lane, Sydney, from Wednesday, February 19. The bar is open 12pm–2am Tuesday–Saturday and 5pm–2am Sunday–Monday.
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