What do you get when you give two of Sydney’s leading cocktail barmen free reign to open their own bar? The answer is Hinky Dinks, a lighthearted cocktail bar with an emphasis on delicious food and great service.
The 50-person bar located in Darlinghurst is a single fronted room featuring a tiny carpeted lounge and compact diner-style seating along one wall. Designed by Luchetti Krelle, the retro-feeling space (think Peach Pit or Happy Days) invites patrons to gather in small groups or hover around the bar in the back left-hand corner. Taking its inspiration from 1950’s middle-America, Hinky Dinks is amusing but it’s certainly not kitsch. The combination of sincerity and tongue-in-cheek groove keeps it safely out of the realm of ‘gimmick bar’ or ‘theme restaurant’.
Located dangerously close to the William Street and the seedier side of King’s Cross, Hinky Dinks will offer city dwellers some welcome respite from the pick up joints and goldfish bowls of Bayswater Road. Indeed Hinky Dinks seems destined to be spoken about in the same breath as Bootleg and Love, Tilly Divine.
Dan Knight runs the floor assuring attention to detail is high, while veteran staff man the bar and oversee the kitchen. Staff at the venue come with hardcore restaurant credentials with several familiar faces moonlighting from close-by Longrain and Bistro Moncur.
With a great bar menu designed by Laif Etournaud of local restaurant ONDE, Hinky Dinks combines the true grit of award-winning barman and author Jeremy Shipley (Chicane, Guillaume at Bennelong and MG Garage) with the aplomb and sincerity of ex-actor and accomplished sommelier Dan Knight (Longrain Restaurant and Bar).
Another new Sydney bar brimming with personality; Habitus loves the quirky 50’s wall prints, genuine professional piano stoolz to sit on and the fact they’re serving Gosset Champagne by the glass.
(612) 8084 6379
