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As you take the elevator up to the 26th floor above the modern Skye Suites apartment tower from the corporate-leaning Macquarie Street, Parramatta, it’s hard to imagine you’re about to enter a glamorous, Art Deco-style cocktail and Champagne bar. But as you step out, you launch into another world – it’s the world of Nick and Nora, the murder-solving, soirée-throwing New York duo from the novel (and films), The Thin Man.
Nick & Nora’s is made up of a big, indoor area, sandwiched between two outdoor terraces. From the terraces you look out onto the contemporary Parramatta cityscape and far beyond, yet each piece of furniture and design detail – including the Art Deco-style light shades dotted around the room – screams old-world glamour.
Every little detail has been considered, not a corner cut
The bar itself is the centrepiece of the room – there are rows and rows and rows of bottles of spirits, all lit from behind so they glow with a warm golden light. You can sit along the green, marble bar on dark wooden stools, at one of the many tables or booths inside, or you can look out at the view from a rattan stool or lounge on the terrace.
The service also comes with vintage charm – the bartenders are dressed smartly in crisp, white shirts and forest-green cross-back aprons, and they’re very well-mannered and attentive. Not a lax attitude in sight.
As you look around, you see feature bottles on show – some on shelves, some arranged along bench tables: magnums of good French fizz and oversized bottles of rare cognac. But they aren’t just for show – the drinks menu here is huge and diverse, with seven pages dedicated to Champagne (ranging up to more than $2,000 for a bottle of Krug and $7,000 for a 15-litre mega bottle of Mumm Cordon Rouge). Thankfully you can also order a $17 glass of Chandon, or a $25 cocktail.
There’s a whole book-like menu for signature cocktails, and they’re split into personalities
The seductive ‘Femme Fatales’ section of the menu is mostly creative takes on Martinis (there’s one with olive oil, clarified tomato water and sundried tomato oil; there’s another with dry sherry, smoke and almonds).
There’s the ‘Bon Vivant’ section, a range of “party drinks” showcasing rich fruits and other exotic flavours; and the ‘Hollywood Starlet’ section of Champagne Cocktails – as a bubbles lover, I start with one of these, the Rhubarb Royale. It’s Martell VS cognac, rhubarb, Peychaud’s sugar and Chandon Brut served in a tall Champagne flute that’s ridged so that it looks like the elegant pleats of a dancer’s skirt. The liquid just looks like Champagne, but when I bring the drink to my nose, there’s a bitter scent, not unlike the smell of Aperol (which also contains rhubarb). When I sip, the bitterness from the rhubarb and Peychaud’s bitters is balanced out by sweetness from the cognac and sugar.
We also order a regular dry Martini. The bartender brings it out in a haze of liquid nitrogen so that the glass stays frosty after the drink is poured from a thermos at the table. It tastes spot on – my fussy, Martini-connoisseur date agrees.
We order some snacks; little chunks of raw salmon come chopped and mixed with a spicy mayo, served on a house-made black-sesame-seed-and-rice cracker and sprinkled with seaweed dust. It’s a salty little bite that tastes like the sea.
We also get the cheese empanadas, and they’re made the Venezuelan way, encased in fried cornmeal dough (instead of with shortcrust pastry like in Argentina). When we bite the crisp, golden shell, out pours a melted lava of cheese – queso telita style (white, soft, gooey, creamy and salty = yummy). We dip them in the spicy Peruvian aji sauce and fresh pico de gallo salsa that cuts through the oil.
Next I go for a cocktail from the ‘Snitch’ section, which covers sour and bitter concoctions – I pick the Fugitive Fizz (Patron Silver tequila, Amaro Montenegro, mandarin, orange citrate, sugar, Aquafab and soda). Again, I’m super happy with my choice. The citrus, amaro and sugar combine with the tequila to give a sherbety flavour, which is amplified by the crema (and sprinkle of nutmeg) on top. Aquafab is a fairly new Aussie invention – a plant-based substance that bartenders use to create cocktail foams without egg whites. I’ve always loved a bit of foam atop a sour cocktail, and this works a treat.
The cocktails taste fairly strong, so I cut myself off and end instead with a dependable glass of Chandon Brut. I could have ordered any bottle of Champagne served in a ‘Shoey’ (not your average footy boot, but a glass Cinderella-like slipper), which they suggest you go for to celebrate a birthday, an anniversary, or just because (I’ll save that one for a bigger night).
Nick & Nora’s is a Speakeasy Group venue, and it reminds me of their uber classy Sydney CBD bar, Eau De Vie – and, of course, of their Melbourne iteration of Nick & Nora’s, which I visited many years ago – with its opulent, jazz-age décor and theatrical cocktails.
As the elevator descends, the vintage golden glow of Nick & Nora’s fades into the bright lights of Parramatta’s ever-evolving skyline. Reality snaps back into focus, but it’s nice to know that 26 floors up, right here in Western Sydney, there’s a world where time slows, Champagne flows, and old-world glamour reigns.
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