Something was missing from the Bars March family… and we couldn’t quite put our finger on it – until we met dog-loving Tom and Tina Warner.
They’re gin farmers, and if you love great drinks, you absolutely need to have a real gin farmer in your inner circle.
Tom and Tina produce their delicious range of Warner’s Distillery craft gins in a 200-year-old barn at Falls Farm, right in the middle of the stunning British countryside. Their gins are crafted with nature, using fresh botanicals – many of which are grown on the farm – honey from their own beehives and water drawn from their spring.
When we tasted Tom and Tina’s tangy fruit-bomb Rhubarb Gin – one third of the bottle is pure rhubarb juice – inspired by a crop of rhubarb originally grown in Queen Victoria’s own kitchen garden, we knew we had to have it in a Bars March drink.
And then we found out that Warner’s Distillery is just as devoted to dogs as Bars March is… and the friendship was sealed.
Tom and Tina’s dog, Leia, is the distillery’s Executive Morale Officer, and takes her job very seriously. When things get tough out there in the fields, she lightens everyone’s day with a wag and a grin. Add a sundowner of Warner’s Rhubarb Gin with tonic or ginger ale, and all cares vanish.
We can’t wait to celebrate with Tom and Tina (while Leia stays back home in the UK to mind the farm) here in Sydney and Melbourne during March.
All month long, you’ll find bespoke Bars March Warner’s cocktails on pour at Sydney’s The Duke of Clarence, The Barber Shop and Madame Brussels in Melbourne. We promise you’ll love them as much as we do.
At the Erskineville Hotel, inclusivity means dogs too. And that makes it a perfect launch pad for Bars March.
For the second year running, the deeply dog-devoted Erko hosted our Bars March launch, with an eclectic crowd of pooches bringing their people together on a sunny Sunday afternoon to have a drink, save a dog at Pints 4 Paws.
From Gary the foxie-cross to tiny puppy Bowie, Winston the beagle and squishy-faced man-about-town Yoshie the bulldog, the canine crew came in all shapes and sizes. They dined on a doggie menu of raw beef tartare, nana treats and nut bones, while their humans toasted the cause with pints from 4 Pines Brewing Company. For every pint sold, one dollar was donated to the Bars March NSW charity partner, Animal Welfare League NSW.
Out in the back courtyard, Alabaster, a shaggy, smiley labradoodle was chilling on a couch with his best mate Rocko the groodle, while their humans Rob and Deb Eastwood shared Alabaster’s poignant story.
The big fella has recently been diagnosed with an aggressive and inoperable cancer, and most likely doesn’t have much time left.
Rob and Deb are making sure that every day is filled with joy for their ‘bucket list boy’ – and Pints 4 Paws was one of many treats and outings he’s enjoying.
We feel very privileged to have met this beautiful soul and his family. They represent the deep human-canine bond that inspires everything we do at Bars March.
A big cheers to Erko bossman Reid, the awesome Erko team, and all the big-hearted humans who raised a pint in their paws to support the cause.
Be sure to visit the Erko with your own furry friend this March to sup a Bars March pint or two. You’re assured a warm and fuzzy welcome.
Erskineveille’s dog-devoted pub, The Erko, was packed out with pooches and their people as Pints 4 Paws kicked off our month of good times for a good cause. From greyhounds to groodles, pugs to pomeranians, corgies to collies, bulldogs to bitzers, a furry, four-legged rainbow of every shape, size, breed and colour filled the friendly community pub.
As you’d expect in this diverse and inclusive inner west neighbourhood, all the canines got along famously, proving that the more eclectic the crowd, the better the party. With Mardi Gras adding to the festive atmosphere, the humans raised toasts with the Erko’s Bars March special, 4 Pines beer, with $1 for every drink purchased donated to Animal Welfare League NSW to help the less fortunate relatives of these party pups.
Many dogs in attendance were rescues themselves, with their owners keen to share the joy of adopting a shelter pet. TV personality and avid animal-lover Shelly Horton brought along Mr Barkley and Bella, both former shelter pups now enjoying a blissful forever home with Shelly and her partner Darren. Buckley the gentle giant mixed-breed had been adopted from a Toronto shelter by human dad Joey and looked very much at home in his new city; Alice the greyhound and her long-legged squad of fellow greys stretched out beneath the tables, content with their new life as lounge lizards, and throughout the pub’s various spaces, humans met and mingled, their canines the ideal conversation starter.
Bars March sends a huge tail wag to The Erko’s excellent team, and all the big-hearted humans who came along to support the cause. Make sure to take your own dog along to this pooch paradise of a pub during March. You’re guaranteed a warm and fuzzy welcome.
Photos: Belinda Rolland
Dog-friendly cafe and bar, Caffe Bartolo, welcomed special canine guests yesterday who came with their owners for some brunch. We're not sure if these four-legged legends came with a signed paw-tition to rename the place to Caffe Barktolo - but that's what's written over the welcoming row of water bowls right outside. There's no doubt - this gorgeous, Surry Hills European-inspired eatery loves dogs.
And who could resist the likes of Miss Stella Hudson the cavoodle, Tia the golden retriever, Hugo the cocker spaniel and their ex-shelter dog friends Ladybird the greyhound, Domino the Dalmatian and beautiful bitzers Bo (big, speckled with a black face) and Oscar (little, white with brown patches).
So enough with the 'walk into a bar' puns and let's talk about Bars March! Yesterday's gathering signals our upcoming Bars March celebration. It's a one-month long charity campaign where brilliant bars in Australia invite you to rasie toast and have fun for a good cause. It wasn't a coincidence that Caffe Bartolo VIPs were mostly shelter adopted pups whose forever homes are with big-hearted hospitality professionals. You guessed it right: Bars March's cause is - animals.
Rescue dogs + talented and kind hospitality professionals +animal-loving friends gathering together for fun and drinks is what Bars March is all about. You will find more details about our cause here.
This year, Caffe Bartolo is selling $10 charity brunch cocktails from 1 - 3 March, 2019. And then their signature The Sea cocktail will donate $2 of its $22 price throughout the month of March. What better reasons could there be for this advance party of four legged gourmands to bring their two-legged drinks aficionados for a taste test?
A delicious craft vodka with a devotion to dogs? Count us in, we said!
Bars March has twin passions: dogs and delicious drinks. Tito's Handmade Vodka has a motto: vodka for dog people. That's the recipe for a beautiful friendship.
Over in the USA, there's a little slice of heaven; a weathered shack under a big Texas sky, where one of the purest spirits available is produced in an old-fashioned pot still by Texas' first legal distillery. All around, a variety of happy dogs roam, sleep and play.
This is the home of Tito's Handmade Vodka, established by the aptly named Tito Beveridge in 1995. Back then, Tito embarked on a journey to create a vodka so smooth you could enjoy it straight, and as he did so, the animal loving Texan welcomed stray dogs to his Mockingbird Distillery, providing shelter, food and love. As more homeless hounds arrived (word must have got around in canine circles), Tito forged partnerships with local animal welfare organisations, including non-profit veterinary service, Emancipet, to care for as many dogs as he could. Tito supports numerous animal welfare causes, and the brand has come to represent kindness, compassion and love for our canine counterparts, as well as distilling excellence.
At Bars March, we salute anyone who shares our commitment to helping the animals who give so much and ask for so little in return, and when that soulmate just happens to produce one of the finest vodkas we've tasted, well - our tails can't stop wagging.
We're proud and delighted that Tito's Handmade Vodka has partnered with Bars March in 2019 to help our participating venues create beautiful drinks for our cause. Look out for it on your journeys around our participating venues - and when you raise a toast with a drink containing Tito's Handmade Vodka this March, you'll know for sure that you're having a drink, saving a dog.
Bars March has always gravitated to a winning equation: cute men + dogs + bars. This time we took it up a notch, with piping-hot personal trainers taking to the streets to walk shelter dogs, and a party at both ends!
Strut With Mutts saw Sydney’s hottest animal-loving fitness pros join forces to walk the homeless dogs between two of the city’s most beloved watering holes, Woolloomooloo’s Frisco Hotel and The Carrington in Surry Hills.
With a party at both ends serving up each pub’s fundraising Bars March cocktails, the double-suburb event invited all dog-doters to revel in a hike with hunks and hounds to support Animal Welfare League NSW.
Along the way, friendships were sealed, shirts were removed, and passers-by who encountered the Bars March marchers and their lovable entourage were able to chat with them and learn about adopting a homeless dog. At the two dog-friendly venues, partygoers met more hounds seeking forever homes and took selfies to win prizes for the most ‘pawsome’ Instagram pics.
The trainers, including Scott Gooding, Mike Webster, Dylan Rivier and Ben Lucas, star in the Hot Dudes and Dogs Calendar, which was on sale on the night, with all proceeds going to the cause.
Dogustation, Smooch a Pooch, Meet Wilbur the French Bulldog and furry models hitting the dogwalk in a canine pageant all made for an epic day of four-legged fun for Bars March 2016 at The Carrington, Surry Hills.
Dogs ruled the day, but there were some awesome humans there too: our beloved Bars March celebrity ambassador and the day's host, Dr Katrina Warren, friends from our Sydney partner charity Animal Welfare League NSW, Bars March founder, Amy Cooper, the amazing team at The Carrington, gorgeous ambassador Kate Johnson and the hundreds of big-hearted Marchers who came to party with their furry pals to #haveadrinksaveadog ! Our warmest thanks to all for this unforgettable day of the best things in life: dogs, friends, fun, food and drink. Photos by Leigh Baker and Quentin Jones
A new Mr CBD was crowned as the full-blooded male beauty pageant returned by popular demand for 2015.
Once again, Sydney’s sexiest suited men took to the catwalk to battle for honours in the city’s only male beauty pageant for white-collar workers. An eager crowd packed out The Argyle in Sydney’s The Rocks to see finalists Bernard Barry, Peter Roehrig, Alex Rowe, Cedric Adinkwuye, Alex Trpkoski and Rhys Loaney parade their charms to attract the highest audience bid.
The boys were put through their paces by celebrity MCs and TV personalities Dr Katrina Warren and David Whitehill, who ensured the comp was a battle of wits as well as looks. Inevitably, though, shirts came off, roses were flung and the flirting between would-be winners and their excited audience went off the scale.
The finalists had been selected by a judging panel of Sydney identities: ex-Big Brother contestant Lisa Clark, stylist to the stars Donny Galella, man-about-town and publicist Simon Hancock, and Taryn Williams, leading entrepreneur and owner of WINK modeling agency. For weeks preceding the grand final, they’d been tasked with sifting through applications from bankers, real estate salesmen, IT guys, lawyers, accountants and other professional blokes who reckoned they could rock a suit better than the rest.
Winner Rhys Loaney scored a modelling contract with WINK and a bundle of other goodies - plus the honour of wearing that famous Mr CBD sash. “I might even sleep in it,” said the delighted new title holder.
Sydney’s beauty pageant for blokes in suits returned for its second year, and inaugural title holder Angelo Bourras had to reluctantly hand over the coveted Mr CBD winner’s sash to his successor, Brixton Bykerk.
In the run-up to the final, Bars March’s Mr CBD talent scouts were roaming the city streets, spotting hot blokes rocking their suits, and the cream of the crop came together at The Argyle to strut their stuff before a feverish audience gathered to decide the winner with their bids.
Finalists Rhys Mugden, Vlad Milevski, Kyle Eddy, George Konstand, Braian Szwarcberg-Poch and Brixton Bykerk were chosen from hundreds of hopefuls from offices and tower blocks around Sydney’s CBD. They paraded on the catwalk, while celebrity hosts Dr Katrina Warren and David Whitehill used all their skills to keep the crowd under control. Dashing hedge fund trader Brixton attracted the biggest money for the evening’s charity cause (Animal Welfare League NSW) and scored himself the Mr CBD title for the next 12 months. The flirty fun continued well into the night, with numerous new friendships off to a sizzling start, and more than $10,000 raised for the cause.
Bars March celebrated a shiny new name that leaves no doubt what we’re about: good times for a good cause. Sydney’s only month-long celebration of bar culture relaunched for its fifth year with a name-swap from Parched March, but the same beloved cause: Animal Welfare League NSW. Our winning formula also remained unchanged: a whole month of responsible socialising and tippling in great bars to have a drink, save a dog.
The launch party was held at Darling Harbour’s Cafe Del Mar Australia, with over 300 guests in attendance, including top media, the bar industry, and pet pooches such as Fashion Dog Sydney and Oscar & Frank from the trendy optical brand. Celebrity guests included Bars March ambassador Dr Katrina Warren, Miss World Australia Erin Holland, Home and Away’s Terri Haddy, Wade Osborn and Cameron Laing from Amy Meredith, reality TV graduates Tim Robards and Anna Heinrich, Richard Wilkins from the Today show, and TV personality David Whitehill.
Bars March partner Suntory provided a selection of dazzling cocktails for guests, including the Russian Mule made with Russian Standard Original Vodka; the Sidecar, with Remy Martin VSOP, Cointreau and lemon juice; and the Midori Fizz which mixes Russian Standard Vodka, Midori, soda and lime. Delicious Mediterranean-inspired canapés were provided by Cafe Del Mar Australia Head Chef Ben Fitton and Brand Ambassador Miguel Maestre. The talented pair served up delights such as chermoula crusted chicken, rouille and endive; watermelon, Persian fetta and jamon serrano; rock oysters with lemon sandwiches, and padron peppers, pink salt and cumin. Guests enjoyed a live art show by Mambo artists, who decorated a surfboard and Bars March ‘pup-up’ to be auctioned at the end of the month and everyone had fun posing in a photo booth provided by JL Images. Photographs courtesy of Nikki To and Belinda Rolland.
