As the colder months push through, there’s one place in town to find solace with dinner and a show; the quiet, dimly lit corners of Byron Bay’s Bar Heather. Tucked away in Jonson Lane, Bar Heather is the newly open Parisian-inspired restaurant from the team behind Luna Wine Store and chef Ollie Wong-Hee (Sixpenny, Western Sydney).
Push through the red velvet curtains and step inside to find a spot along the cosy, dark green leather banquettes or the mortadella-coloured horseshoe bar that sits proudly in the centre of the room. From the kitchen Wong-Hee takes inspiration from some of the abundant and most vibrant produce available in the region, with a long and wine-friendly snack section leading into substantial, hearty-but-delicate cooking.
Take for example their new addition to the menu; organic chicken from Richmond Valley Pastures, dotted with king oyster mushroom from local farm Shroom Bros, Japanese parsley and a locally made mushroom shoyu (soy sauce) with late winter truffles from nearby Ebor, NSW. Alternatively, you can wrangle up the pork and betel leaf, a do-it-yourself lettuce cup with bouncing pork mince, local betel from Boon Luck Farm charred on the hibachi and served up with a punchy fermented pineapple condiment and house pickles.
This of course all comes hand-and-hand with considerable choices to make on the wine front, with a 700+ wine list leaving only the question of what best to drink next.
Although Bar Heather is open Tuesday–Saturday (5pm–late), it’s Thursday nights that have become a local favourite with a rotation of local jazz trios and outfits busting out smooth and sultry jazz tunes to the diners nearby. Be sure to reserve yourself a table this coming Thursday to see what it’s all about as this might be the kind of dinner and a show worth not missing out on.
Reservations via www.barheather.com.
