Enjoy innovative drinks and inspired hospitality at +81 Aizome Bar, West End’s striking new Japanese-style cocktail bar
+81 Aziome Bar – West End’s brand-new Japanese-inspired cocktail bar – might be one of the most impressive drinking joints to open this year. Why? Well, with an incredible minimalist aesthetic envisioned by a top designer and a forward-thinking drinks list crafted by one of Australia’s best bartenders, it’s quality is hard to deny. The ten-seater bar officially opened to the public this week – come and take a peek inside …
In Japan, there is an expression used to describe a particular state of being – a philosophy that’s all about mindfulness, selflessness and consideration. Omotenashi is, broadly speaking, the desire to offer a deeper level of care and the act of going above and beyond for others without the expectation of reward. Though it’s an ethos that can be applied to many facets of life, omotenashi underpins much of Japan’s hospitality sector. At +81 Aizome Bar, omotenashi is the name of the game.
The bar, which officially opened on Wednesday December 4, is an intimate ten-seater cocktail bar located on the corner of Montague Road and Jane Street. The brainchild of Hisatake Kamori (who also co-owns chic distillery BY.ARTISANS a few doors down) Aizome Bar is the prelude to +81 itself – a Japanese-inspired kappo-style restaurant taking shape next door.
Envisioned as a tone-setting introduction to the restaurant’s overarching approach to high-end hospitality, +81 Aizome Bar draws inspiration from Japan’s cocktail bar scene, emulating the cosy haunts that employ omotenashi to the fullest degree and greatest effect. Renowned designer Alexander Lotersztain of Derlot Group has crafted the bar’s striking interior, saturating the venue in deep indigo hues (aizome is the Japanese word for indigo dye), which are offset by natural timbers.
“We wanted to create a bar that was very intimate and small, inspired by the bars of Ginza and Shinjuku in Tokyo where the owner is the barman,” says Alexander. “You go and create this kind of sense of relationship between you and the barman – kind of like what we experience here in the Western world when going to the barber. I think that level of intimacy and relationship gets lost, especially at the mega pubs that we are accustomed to now with 20 taps.”
Though minimalist in aesthetic, +81 Aizome Bar is meticulously crafted to offer an experience that meshes comfort and convenience. Ten stools are spaced at regular intervals on two planes of the trapezoidal bar, the lip of which is encased in a cushy indigo leather arm rest. From any perch, guests are afforded unimpeded views of the cylindrical back bar, built so the shelves can rotate independently.
“The reason why I wanted [the back bar] to rotate is because if you’re sitting at a hexagonal bar, you might be facing it on an angle – it can feel flat,” explains Alexander. “In this case, if you’re looking for a gin, the barman actually rotates and faces all the gins towards you. Omotenashi is a very important aspect of Japanese culture, where they go above and beyond to create this amazing sense of hospitality. Obviously, with the design intent, we wanted to try to achieve that as well.”
Of course, the service-oriented goals of +81 Aizome Bar are only achievable if the barman helming the operation is capable. There’s no fear on that front – award-winning mixologist Tony Huang is conceiving and executing +81 Aizome Bar’s incredible beverage program.
The Brisbane-born bartender has returned to his home town after a celebrated stint in Melbourne, where alongside Tim Pope he opened Par. The pioneering Fitzroy boozer was known and widely praised for its ‘neo cocktails’ – drinks crafted over a multi-day process using freeze-integration techniques and served in a wine format. Now at the steering wheel at +81 Aizome Bar, Tony is looking to push his approach to innovative drink making further, while also drawing inspiration from Japan’s contemporary mixology scene.
“I’m also very passionate about the Japanese style of classic bartending, which is very rare in Australia,” says Tony. “It is very different and there’s a lot of finesse and care to it, and the tempo is a lot slower. I really like that focus on precision and hospitality – in the end, I’m here to look after the guests.”
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Tony’s hyper-seasonal cocktail menu is divided into two sections. The first is dedicated to fresh cocktails that are modern expressions of classics, made with Japanese tea and fresh seasonal fruit. The second is all about Tony’s famed neo cocktails – aged libations that Tony tells us are made over a five-day process.
“Firstly, we buy seasonal produce – then we cut it, wash it, cut it and freeze it at negative 20 degrees,” explains Tony. “We do that to break down the cell walls of the botanicals and then we infuse the whole cocktail with the frozen botanicals at one degree for 48 hours. Through osmosis, we leach out the maximum amount of flavour and texture.”
“On the fourth day, we filter and then the racking process (removing the finer sediment) takes another day. Then we have to rest that for a day, so the mixture can mellow out, and then we can serve it.”
Tony likens these drinks to wine, in the sense that the flavour opens up over time. All of the beverages are served in Kimura Glass glassware without garnish over ice imported from Japanese manufacturer Kuramoto Ice in Kanazawa.
+81 Aizome Bar’s neo cocktails include the likes of the Kiwi Sparkling Sake (a carbonated beverage boasting Denshin junmai ginjo, sencha Asamiya yabukita, alpine honey, skinsy kiwi, basil lime, sparkling blanc de blanc), Banana Sherry (Toki whisky, botrytis semillon, oloroso sherry, organic hojicha and banana trinity) and the herbaceous Tomato Rosé (Tantakatan shiso shochu, rosé. organic sencha saemidori, spiced tare, dill, strawberry, tomato and chilli skin contact).
Stand-out fresh cocktails include the Watermelon Colada (Arette sauve tequila blanco, mirai wakocha, soy agave and Roper River watermelon) and the Dirty Mango Martini (Haku vodka, Denshin junmai daiginjyo, condimento, organic sencha asatsuyu, Kensington Pride mango). Alcohol-free versions of these drinks are available, as is a sizeable selection of wines and beers.
Though +81’s full dining experience isn’t launching until February 2025, guests to Aizome Bar can enjoy a taste of what is to come via a snack menu devised by chef Aidan Whittle. The short list of Japanese-inspired bites includes Apellation oysters served with whisky motoyaki, Suntory hollandaise and lime, summer tartlets with manchego cheese, sunflower praline and caviar, satsuma-age (a fried fishcake of saddle-tail snapper) with bonito and kohlrabi, and prawn shinjo-age (a prawn fritter) with yuzo kosho.
While +81 Aizome Bar’s opening is a herald for exciting things to some, the haunt is an incredible mould-breaking addition to Brisbane’s bar scene in its own right. In a year where the city’s drinks scene has deepened and diversified in interesting ways, +81 Aizome Bar stands out as a singular entity – one whose arrival speaks to the maturation and evolution of Brisbane’s hospitality landscape.
“I think this project here is very forward thinking,” says Tony. “It’s bringing something actually new to Brisbane and really pushing it forward.”
+81 Aizome Bar is now open to the public. Bookings are encouraged – head to The Directory for more information.