Perhaps the most famous bartender of all time was a man by the
name of Harry McElhone. He was a Scotsman who ran a bar in Paris
called Harry's New York Bar. Harry's (to which it is most commonly
and fondly referred) was thrust into fame as the birthplace of many
of the cocktails known today as classics, often created by Harry
himself. The legacy left behind by McElhone is one of legend,
notorious heights of which most bartenders can barely dream lest
conquer. It's bartenders like Harry that make a humble barman think
about his legacy and what he leaves behind.
We pride ourselves on many things here at The Bar at The End of
the Wharf: value for money, service with a smile, great food,
classy cocktails, boutique beers, a stellar wine list and of course
the best view in Sydney to boot. But what gets overlooked by most
(and rightly so, as boasting is not one of our strong points) is
how environmentally friendly our little big bar really is.
While you won't see any of us wearing 'SAVE THE WHALES' t-shirts
or manning the decks of the Sea Shepherd, you will, if you look
closely, see us caring for our little slice of Planet Earth and
doing what we can to ensure we sleep at night knowing we've made a
difference.
Here are some numbers for you to ponder while sipping on a
perfectly crafted martini as you sit under the bridge on our day
lounge.
In three months we have…
Recycled 13 854 bottles (give or take, not that I've been
counting…)
Saved another 2376 possible bottles from certain destruction by
pouring beers from eco-friendly re-usable growlers (which the
brewery pick up from us weekly before sterilising and refilling
them with more delicious beer.)
Recycled over 1254 cardboard boxes (again, who counts these
things?)
Stopped the necessity of over 20 more incoming cardboard boxes a
week by getting a good chunk of our beer and cider delivered in
milk crates.
Collectively lost over 56 kilos in weight running up and down the
wharf from The Bar to our storeroom on busy nights desperately in
need of stock (okay, not an environmental point but still
interesting to know…)
Served well over 10 000 litres worth of tasty locally sourced
beverages (I'm not counting that one to an exact figure, just trust
my estimations) including beer brewed just four suburbs away,
biodynamic and organic local wines (over 70% of our list is from
NSW alone) and even a couple of cheeky local cocktails (we have not
one but two gins on our back bar that are 100% Australian made,
even down to their botanicals which include lemon myrtle and bush
tomato.)
The greening of the wharf initiative has been an important factor
in everything we do here at the bar since day one, but apart from
the obvious environmental impact, it just makes sense for us to
recycle and to choose local over imported and so on. We talk
directly with our suppliers on a daily basis, always refining and
perfecting what comes into the bar, whether its beer, wine,
oranges, apples, or a new obscure cocktail ingredient, going local
has always been a win for us and, ultimately, a win for the
consumer.
So next time you're in The Bar, before asking for an imported
lager you assume we have because everywhere else has it, pause for
but a moment and read through our menu. As you flick through the
pages, you'll see that everything we do has a good reason and,
although we like to think we are humble, we are also very proud of
our small environmental achievements here at The Bar at The End of
the Wharf. Are we the greenest bar in Sydney? That's not for us to
say, but I know, unlike Harry, when I switch off the lights at
the end of every night I'm not leaving behind a book of classic
cocktails for future barmen, or a legacy of prohibition-related
notoriety and fortune. All I know is that my team and I may have
mixed up a few ingredients for generations to come that will really
count.
Joe Cutcliffe
Bar Manager
News: Message in a bottle #2
Date posted: 26 Jun 2012Author: STC