Our Stories

Reviews & Musings

  • Coravin, my not-so-new favourite wine tool.

    By

    The Coravin is one of the greatest game changers I’ve seen in my life of serving wine. And let me tell you, that’s a few years.

    In short, this nifty tool gives access to wines that can be poured by the glass and yet never opened!

    Think Grange, Barolo and Grand Cru Burgundy to start.

    I’ve played around with it for a while now and am confident that the wines remain perfect once ‘Coravined’.

    Thanks to the coravin, we’ve added about 20 premium wines to our by the glass list. Available as a “taste” or glass. And we can do it, because the wines stay super fresh under their own cork indefinitely.

    If you don’t believe me ask Jancis Robinson http://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles/coravin-the-pros-and-cons

  • Ten Years on…

    By

    This is the menu from 10 years ago today when we swung open our doors on Elizabeth Street. Back then there was no wine bars, no casual bistros. Mostly just cafes or fine diners in the city.

    I knew what I wanted to do, but definitely didn’t know how! We have struggled, we have succeeded, we’ve changed things when it didn’t work and we sometimes changed things even when they were working.

    Along the way I’ve meet some amazing people, and had even more amazing staff. The place has earned accolades, and missed out on others. We built a bar, we changed the name, we can never make up our mind about what the menu looks like. WE HAVE HAD FUN!

    This game of hospitality isn’t going to change the world, cure cancer or solve poverty, but I’d like to think that the art of being hospitable can sometimes make a small difference.

    So there we are, our 10th birthday. We can look back and be proud of making it to this point, but the most important thing really, is what we do in our next service.

    Stuart

  • Why I’ve Changed Fix, Stuart Knox

    By

    I’ve started writing a press release a dozen times at least. Yet every time I start I get lost in jargon, fluff and fancy. So instead, here’s a letter.

    The WHAT part is easy. We’re building of a bar counter and high tables in the lower section at FIX. The WHY has been elusive. Funny how we know what we want to do but sometimes it takes a bit longer to really work out why.

    So here I sit, late on a Friday (well, early on a Saturday really) with a cup of tea instead of a beer, typing instead of watching dubious TV.

    But I’m waffling, it’s simple once realized. After all these years of owning and making FIX what it is, I really want it to be a wine bar.

    Way back in 2006 there wasn’t an option to be a wine bar. I paid $15,000 for the privilege of a drink or dine license, so 30% of my capacity could choose to drink without intent of a meal. We struggled through with a solid lunch trade to the point of the small bar revolution which changed the way Sydney drinks forever. Like any change, it’s taken a while for it to become part of the Sydney psyche but it certainly has succeeded.

    Which brings us to now. Here I am approaching FIX’s 7th birthday (and that is similar in age to 49 dog years) with an itch to change. I’ve been restauratuering all this time with a heavy wine focus but I’m keen to have more flexibility to do what I want to do. Which is simply talk more shit about fermented grape juice.

    The nuts and bolts for our changes are;

    • A high bar counter along the bar, a pair of high rounds in the window and a low communal table in the lower section of the FIX space.
    • A more visual division of the upper and lower section of the FIX space.
    • Menu tweaks to provide more small/snack/share options in the ‘bar’ area. But of course I’m not one to say no to anyone so the full menu is always an option wherever you’re sitting.
    • Select menu items available throughout our opening times.
    • More winey moments with samples, winemakers, random tastings and frivolity based around the joys of fermented grape juice.
    • To complete the works we will be closed Saturday 5th October until Wednesday 9th October

    At this point I doubt there’s much more to say.

    Worth noting as a final (if irrelevant) point, most of this has been built by me. So rustic probably fails to adequately describe the expected workmanship.

    Look forward to seeing you at the bar, or something.

    Stu.