So here I am sitting down to write a blog piece for my very own venue – one of the most surreal experiences that I have yet to encounter. For the first time it actually feels like my dream is coming to fruition after many years of late nights, early mornings, great customers, dickhead customers, great mentors, dickhead bosses, drunken staffies, staffies I can’t even remember and those staffies that my dear colleagues will never let me forget! By the way, I’m very disappointed that Microsoft Word does not recognize the word ‘staffie’. This will have to be remedied. Be prepared for an email, Microsoft, I have a sexy new letterhead and a wanky title now!
Seb chowing down while our Chef, Adam, looks on. Yes, he drank that much wine.
So when I started out on this little adventure I was expecting it to be all pornstars, trashing hotel rooms, messy drunken nights, numerous foreign cities – wait a second that was my other dream, being a ROCKSTAR! So I have finally come to the conclusion that being a rockstar might have been a bit more fun but hey I’m in this now so may as well rock it to the best of my abilities, the reality is opening your own bar is bloody hard.
Decisions, decisions, there are just so many to make. You end up relying on so many different people, and these people promise you things, and some let you down and then you’re back to point one – doing it all yourself. Fortunately I have surrounded myself with fantastic people that have been of great help and taken on a lot of the pressure. That said I am still finding myself at home on weekends and waking every night to scribble down ideas.
Being the self confessed boozehound that many of you know me for, I had one primary wish in my very own bar, the ultimate liquor selection. This selection would make many bartenders weak at the knees and have bar owners suggesting a bank-like shutter system come staffies time. I wanted the holy-grail of back bars. Now after many a meeting with suppliers and literally hundreds upon hundreds of liquors tasted Sam Bygrave, Garden Brasserie’s Bar Manager, this wish has been fulfilled, and in just one word it’s Legen….dary! Whilst having an insane backbar provides a great level of bragging rights it has also given Sam the liberty to create a cocktail list that is sure to wow even the biggest of critics, which in most cases are our closest and most dear colleagues.
Now I know Australia is well known for its wines, but golly gosh (am trying really hard not to swear in this piece) it seems like everyone I know has a friend in the wine game that would like their product on the menu. This is a good thing, it just means more tastings! My body is now a finely tuned, alcohol-injected vehicle! Fortunately there is another finely tuned, alcohol-injected vehicle by my side with a much finer palate, Nic Wright, our Sommelier and Restaurant Manager. Nic has put together an incredible list of local and international wines from all over Europe, North and South America as well as some incredible wines from Japan (yep, wine and not sake!).
Luckily on the business side of things I have a business partner (Stephen Gellert) of whom I have the utmost respect, and together we’re slaving away night and day to achieve this mutual dream of a venue on Sydney’s North Shore that provides great food, great drink and great entertainment in a venue that makes everyone feel relaxed and welcome.
Did someone mention food? Well, if you’ve ever had the privilege of dealing with Chefs you will know that many have very… colourful personalities. Ok let’s not beat around the bush, most of them are complete nutballs, on the edge of snapping at any given moment. That said I was very wary that upsetting a Chef in any way could only end badly, remember after all they carry sharp knives for a living! Our Executive Chef Adam Howe, however, has to be the most friendly, mild tempered knife-wielding person that you will come across. He’s almost too nice (got to be careful of those really nice people, seen too many horror movies where it’s always that nice guy).Well, last week I sat down to trial some of the dishes that will he’ll serve up at Garden, and to say that I was blown away was an understatement. The combination of beautiful presentation and sumptuous flavours leaves me, well, hungry thinking about it.
I look forward to opening the doors on this place and sharing it all with you. In the meantime, I’d love to hear from all of you guys following this blog, our Twitter page or our Facebook page and thanks to all of you so far for your support!
So I guess that’s me for now. I’m Sebastian Gallery, and I freakin’ own this place.
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