Meet the Sydney bar with an eco focus

Meet the Sydney bar with a purpose: Daintree Sydney.

The Rocks venue has a new café and wine bar on site, just in time for the festive season.

Daintree Sydney aims to inspire social change and demonstrate a path forward for sustainability within the hospitality industry.

The micro-bar is a partner of HalfCut - an environmental movement that engages people to raise funds to protect rainforests and wildlife.

HalfCut, with Daintree Sydney’s fundraising support, is currently focusing on preserving the Daintree Rainforest in Queensland, working closely with the traditional owners.

Daintree Sydney says it donates half of all its profits to HalfCut.

Since opening its doors in July 2022, the bar has raised more than $52,000.

The cocktail list features drinks with seasonal native ingredients and, where possible, fresh herbs grown by the bar.

Cocktail classics with a native twist include a Gumnut Negroni, Quandong Daiquiri and a Piña Nut, and Daintree Sydney’s take on the Piña Colada with coconut-wash white rum, macadamia butter and wattle seed.

Alongside the cocktails is a wine and beer list that champions New South Wales producers and highlights minimal intervention and natural wines.

As a further nod to Daintree Sydney’s transparent environmental pledge, the menu also points out how far each of their wines and beers have travelled as a real carbon cost.

The food menu has a sustainable focus and features share dishes including kangaroo tataki, Goolwa pipi chowder, Mojo pork cubano sandwiches and locally sourced Australian cheeses.

Daintree Sydney also has sustainability at the heart of the business, adopting a ‘from the ground up’ approach to its operations by tracking and monitoring the bar’s eco-footprint every step of the way. From reducing electricity, gas and water consumption, using the excess water from the ice well to water the plants after service and choosing recycled furniture for the bar fit out. 

“We want Daintree Sydney’s vision to inspire other venues in the hospitality industry to also give back – whether that’s supporting community initiatives, inspiring social change or adopting sustainability measures within their own businesses,” says beverage manager Tom Bulmer. 

Patrons are also encouraged to directly support HalfCut, with donations accepted via QR codes at each table within the venue.

Daintree Sydney is open Tuesday-Saturday 4pm-midnight at Cadman’s Cottage Stairs, 106b George Street, The Rocks, NSW, 2000.

To donate and support the preservation of the Daintree Forest and HalfCut’s vital work, see https://go.halfcut.org/t/daintree-sydney.