If you wait long enough everything has a revival, even vermouth. "It's a lovely drink," says Bar H co-owner Hamish Ingham, who opens Banksii this week with partner Rebecca Lines. "Unfortunately a lot of people remember their grandma having a bottle which was left out, often oxidised and was putrid."
As well as the strong vermouth line-up at the bar, the new Barangaroo bistro pushes the botanical theme on the plate and its interior. Ingham says the brief to designer Luchetti Krelle included a nod to glasshouses and botanist Sir Joseph Banks, who inspired the restaurant's name.
The glass-enclosed kitchen, iron furniture and Bunsen-burner shelving props are not only on brief, but a refreshing take for Sydney restaurants.
![The oysters at new Barangaroo bistro Banksii.](/web/20161018180957im_/http://www.goodfood.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/2/6/e/c/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gs26fp.png/1476679722009.jpg)
"We've got some foragers, so lantana flowers are in the oyster and dry vermouth dish, and there's nettle butter with the mussels," Ingham says.
A British trifle with an Aussie update also hits Banksii's dessert menu. "We've even blended our own vermouth," he adds.
Open daily midday-11pm
33 Barangaroo Avenue, Barangaroo, 02 8072 7037, banksii.sydney