French hotspot Ananas Bar & Brasserie has been hosting special Champagne Brunches once a month for awhile now, pulling on various themes from Willy Wonka to Winter Wonderland. The well-received concept is refreshing and playful, spinning the traditional champagne brunch into lively buffets with free-pour packages, and a DJ for background music (themed, of course), established now as one of the essential Sunday Sessions in Sydney for those that love their food and drink.
Image supplied
October’s Champagne Brunch was, unsurprisingly, built around Halloween with punny dish names and the now locally famous long-table dessert buffet, which is the first thing you see when you walk up from The Argyle entrance to Ananas. This dessert buffet was put together with a graveyard in mind, with edible chocolate “soil”, crosses made of dark chocolate and milky white chocolate, and some of the restaurant’s signature desserts. The edible creation was right opposite the stylish bar, which pumped out Halloween themed cocktails which drew on various ingredients from pumpkin to fairy floss.
The main dining area is where you take a seat, and if you’ve added a champagne package onto the booking you’ll be greeted straight away with some glasses of Moet & Chandon, which you can use to settle into the vibe before getting up and heading to the assortment of small and substantial eats that form the buffet.
The Halloween buffet was a burst of creativity from the chefs, who offered up everything from The Eyes of the Dead (spiced applewood bacon with paprika) and Dracula Bites (beetroot cured salmon, watercress, hard-boiled egg, and horseradish creme fraiche in a pretzel roll) to slow-roasted leg of lamb, an array of cheeses, and oysters. There may not be anything scary about cheese and oysters, but we’re glad they were included because Ananas source some of the best in the area. There was also some jars of the best damn Pâté we’ve had in a long time.
The two-hour champagne package was a $55 add-on, coming at excellent value with the rather diligent staff who would constantly circulate the space, making sure glasses remained full of that crisp, zesty champagne.
For those who would look elsewhere, the Eye for an Eye cocktail seemed to be the most popular drink, with a mix of Absolut Vanilla, Lillet Blanc, Massenz ginger and lime, fresh lemon juice, ginger syrup, and lychee puree.
Chalk up another successful Champagne Brunch session for Ananas while the team continue to grow the concept. Apparently, the sessions will stick to themes for every subsequent session but rather the food will dictate the theme rather than the other way around; for example, this month’s Champagne Brunch will be centered around fresh Maine Lobsters, which are often hard to source and highly sought after so it’s a perfect event for all the seafood lovers around Sydney. Price details and link are below:
Maine Lobster & Champagne Brunch
Sunday, 22 November
$99pp Brunch
$55pp 2-hour Marc Champagne Package
$75pp 2-hr Veuve Clicquot Champagne Package
Bookings: HERE
Ananas Bar & Brasserie
Address: (02) 9259 5668
Contact: 18 Argyle Street, The Rocks
Website: www.ananas.com.au
Lead image supplied and used with permission
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