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Restaurants

Bert’s Bar & Brasserie Opens at The Newport

Bert’s, Merivale’s bar and brasserie at The Newport has opened this month. The venue that combines cues from the grand hotel dining rooms of the 1930s and the relaxed vibe of Sydney’s Northern Beaches is serving a coastal European menu fit for an era gone by.

Bert's @ The Newport   

Bert’s food harks back to its nostalgic and whimsical environment, with celebration in mind. Flanked by charcoal ovens and basque grills, Executive Chef Jordan Toft, Head Chef Sam Kane and the team cook from a centre kitchen showcasing fresh, Australian produce that is served simply and elegantly.

Bert's @ The Newport

The food menu at Bert’s is broken up into the open kitchens seen within the dining room. Guests can start off with toasted brioche fingers; sample the daily selection of crudo served with virgin grape seed and muscatel vinegar dressing; or indulge in the raw bar with hand-picked whole mud crab with lemon and mayonnaise, oysters on the half shell and Siberian caviar with cultured butter and chives.

It’s then onto the larder with salads like the ‘crudite & bagna cauda’ – raw vegetables, warm shallot and anchovy dip – and the ‘Avocado Bert’ with creamy avocado, chopped egg, tarragon, chive, chervil and togarashi, alongside charcuterie – lemon thyme-marinated anchovies, pork and game terrine, San Danielle prosciutto with melon and beef carpaccio. 

Bert's @ The Newport

The mains are centred around the grill and oven with produce cooked using charcoal, iron bark and fruit woods. Think Brooklyn Valley grass-fed rib eye, Rangers Valley grain-fed T-bone roasted with aromatics, and double pork rib for two with peach glaze and garlic flowers.

Seafood includes a range of whole and fillet fish, fried school prawn with red spice and buttermilk hot sauce, live eastern lobster that has been slowly grilled with hojiblanca, and basque-style baked crab. Dessert include mango and coconut pavlova and finger lime syrup, apricot and peach frozen cake with yoghurt, vanilla ice and marshmallow, and carrot and walnut bundt cake, sour cream sorbet and nutmeg.

Bert's @ The Newport

Bert’s 750-strong wine list was curated by Merivale’s two Master Sommeliers – Franck Moreau and Adrian Filiuta with a focus on classic Australian and European wines (including back vintages of Riesling, Semillon, Shiraz and Cabernet), emerging and quirky labels and an solid selection of rosé.

Bert's @ The Newport

For Bert’s bar, Merivale’s Group Bars Manager Sam Egerton has taken inspiration from grand European hotels and American country clubs to create the drinks list, with each drinking representing one of the classic style such as the French 75. “We make a roast almond vodka, mix that up with a white peach skin syrup and fresh citrus, then finish the drink with Ruinart Blanc de Blancs. All the good things”, says Egerton – or the Julep which comes into its own with a celebration of local produce – “lemon myrtle rye whiskey is softened with a touch of Bourbon, wattleseed for warmth and then spearmint and Corsican mint for freshness and funk”.

Another signature is the Bert’s MarTeeny, a miniature martini with Absolut Elyx Madeira and lemon oil, served with olives, cornichons and cocktail onions, and what Egerton describes as “the drink to order when you’re not sure what you feel like or you’re waiting for the rest of your guests to join”.

Bert's @ The Newport

Bert’s bar also serves a selection of snacks from the main menu, alongside dishes of the one hand variety.

Bert’s
2 Kalinya Street, The Newport –
Phone: 9114 7350
Website: https://www.merivale.com.au/venues/berts
Hours: Mon – Sun: 12:00pm – 3:00pm; Mon – Thu: 6:00pm – 10.30pm; Fri – Sat: 5.30pm – 10.30pm; Sun: 5.30pm – 9:00pm

Photo Credit – Supplied

About the author

Corinne Mossati

Corinne Mossati is a drinks writer, author of GROW YOUR OWN COCKTAIL GARDEN, SHRUBS & BOTANICAL SODAS and founder/editor of Gourmantic, Cocktails & Bars and The Gourmantic Garden. She has been writing extensively about spirits, cocktails, bars and cocktail gardening in more recent years. She is a spirits and cocktail competition judge, Icons of Whisky Australia nominee, contributor to Diageo Bar Academy, cocktail developer and is named in Australian Bartender Magazine's Top 100 Most Influential List. Her cocktail garden was featured on ABC TV’s Gardening Australia and has won several awards. She is a contributor to Real World Gardener radio program and is featured in several publications including Pip Magazine, Organic Gardener, Australian Bartender and Breathe (UK). Read the full bio here.