Sydney nightlife isn’t stacking up to Melbourne’s at the moment, but a few inner-city bars are working hard to keep some Emerald City skin in the game. Head through a cobbled laneway below a grand sandstone building on Kent Street and you’ll find Since I Left You’s courtyard canopied in fairy lights. Tall city buildings surround it on all sides and local soul band Audio Soup cranks sexy covers of Bill Withers and Charles & Eddie. It’s reminiscent of Melbourne’s much-loved, now-closed St Jerome’s laneway bar, where the Avalanches got their start. And considering the name, we don’t think that’s a coincidence.
A local tap beer feels like the perfect order for this ramshackle but charming open-air bar but alas, there aren’t any on the menu. Order a short and boozy Mezcal Negroni instead. The woody smokiness is a good match with owner Nick White’s whipped and creamy “famous guacamole”.
