The team behind Maybe Sammy has opened its latest venture, Sammy Junior an espresso and cocktail bar on the ground level of 66 King Street in the Sydney CBD.
The morning espresso bar sees Spiritual Coffee founder and coffee connoisseur Martin Hudak offering a bespoke Sammy Junior Spiritual Coffee blend, as well as small-batch speciality teas from Ms. Cattea, chai from Bespoke Chai and hot chocolate courtesy of Callebaut.
At lunch consultant chef Rob Lechowicz offers up a menu of sandwiches and salads catering to those on-the-go but there are also 50 seats on offer for those looking for a calmer lunch experience.
There is also opportunity for a mini tipple with lunch, with just six cocktails available all are exclusively served as minis, at just 100mL and $13 each.
Hudak said: “Traditionally, a venue is either great at coffee or great at cocktails but there’s not many venues that combine those two offerings successfully. We’re fortunate to have a team who is internationally awarded for delivering exceptional bar and coffee experiences, so it made sense to combine them into one venue. Hospitality has always been just as important to us as the quality of our drinks and food and it will be no different at Sammy Junior.
“We expect the space to be quite transient but at the same time, we welcome those who want to come in with their laptop and sip coffees for a few hours while they work. From mid-afternoon, the energy will pick up pace as we start serving our mini cocktails to those who want to duck out of work early for an aperitivo.”
Four of the six cocktails are on tap – Coffee Negroni (Widges gin, Mr Black Amaro, Campari, Cinzano 1757 Rosso), Martini Australiano (Widges gin, lemon myrtle, Apera Fino), Cascara Fizz (Ketel One Vodka, raspberry liqueur, Cascara soda) and TI Punch Spritz (Plantation Dark Rum, pineapple Cinzano Bianco, rooibos tea) – while the Espresso Martini (Plantation 3yo rum, Mr Black, coconut water, espresso) is made as a frappé and the sixth, Irish Coffee (Roe & Co Irish whiskey, honey, muscovado, filter coffee, cream), is made to serve.
Also on tap is a bespoke Sammy Junior craft beer from Nomad Brewing, Morning Draught ($6), and a rotating selection of wines. The tap system is courtesy of ecoSPIRITS and plays an important role in minimising packaging plus it reduces the carbon footprint of spirits consumption by up to 80 per cent.
Sammy Junior is co-owned by Martin Hudak as well as Maybe Sammy owners, Vince Lombardo, Stefano Catino and Andrea Gualdi.