Gin of choice for hatted Sydney restaurants opens ‘Willy Wonka’ bar to public in Marrickville

Marrickville craft distillery Ester Spirits has opened to the public with a new bar and tasting room to showcase its growing range of gins and pre-mixed cocktails.

Founders (and former chefs) Felix Clark and Corinna Kovner began distilling small batches of traditional, juniper-forward gin for their own consumption, before expanding into wholesale and retail sales in 2020.

It’s become the gin of choice at hatted Sydney restaurants such as Sean’s, Quay and Continental Deli, but the brand has remained relatively unknown to drinkers outside the hospitality industry.

That’s about to change with the transformation of their Chalder Street warehouse space from bare-boned distillery to a “Willy Wonka factory” of spirits, colour and art.

“We want people to walk in and be completely transported,” Kovner tells Good Food.

“I grew up in entertainment. My dad was a fire-eater and my mum was a prop designer … so we were always in woodworking shops and artists’ studios, where it would be just bonkers and filled to the brim with paint cans and turps and overalls.

“That’s how we want this space to feel. I find that mayhem really inspiring.”

A 10-seat marble table anchors the space, surrounded by an eclectic selection of personal trinkets, artist collaborations and bright red Ester-branded boxes.

Visitors can order tasting flights of gin (The Dry, The Strong and Old Tom, $18) with ice, tonic and soda as an accompaniment. Or they could go for a flight of three cocktails, featuring Good Food’s favourite pre-batched negroni, the Mandarin Gimlet, Bees Knees or martini ($20).

Ester’s Old Tom gin, developed to coincide with the opening, is one of only a few in Australia to use citrus oils rather than artificial sweeteners (“It’s an ode to spring in Sydney,” Kovner says). And Clark is developing a rum and a coffee-based liqueur for release by the end of the year.

The tastings are deliberately casual, with descriptions of each product on the menu and trained staff on hand to elaborate if asked.

“The traditional model of gin tastings has someone slowly pouring each gin, then waffling on for about half an hour at you,” Clark says.

“We want people to have the whole flight in front of them, so they’re able to work through it at their own pace, without any pressure.”

It’s a casual approach that extends across the venue. There is a no-bookings policy; a small selection of bar snacks (olives and a choose-your-own-adventure “spuntino”, or makeshift meal, of salad, A.P bread and tinned fish); and a suggestion on the menu to visit nearby Pizza Madre, Cairo Takeaway or Bar Louise if you’re getting hungry.

The venue will offer a convenient detour from Marrickville’s popular Ale Trail, which guides craft beer enthusiasts through the suburb’s many breweries. Kicks Brewing is another new addition to the area, opening its tasting room on Shepherd Street this week.

Ester has plans for further expansion, with a full-service cocktail bar slated to open upstairs by the end of 2024. The concept is still in the early stages of development, but Kovner hopes it will be “kooky and colourful”, with a menu inspired by Indian or Sri Lankan cooking.

“We want to elevate the experience [in the cocktail bar], and really flex our creative muscles,” Clark says.

Bottle shop open daily noon-5pm; tasting room and bar open 3-10pm Fri; noon-10pm Sat; noon-8pm Sun.

31 Chalder Street, Marrickville, esterspirits.com.au