The Waratah

Sydney, Australia

Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards: Best International Restaurant Bar (Regional Honoree: 2026, 2025), Best New International Cocktail Bar (Regional Honoree, 2024).

Evan Stroeve, Australian Bartender of the Year 2021, built this Darlinghurst bar around indigenous Australian ingredients, producing a cocktail program that tastes unlike anything else in the country. Native botanicals, bush foods, and indigenous flavor profiles replace the European and American pantry that dominates Australian bars. The Waratah channels Stroeve's conviction that Australian cocktail culture should taste Australian, and the program delivers on the promise with drinks that educate as they satisfy.