Darren Leaney

DARRENLeaney aka Daz

Groups Bar Manager @ Aru Restaurant, 268 Little Collins Street, and Sunda_ 18 Punch Lane, Melbourne

ABOUT DAZ

I am originally from South Australia. I was hustled into a Saturday night glassie shift by some friends. Within thirty minutes I was hooked. From Adelaide I moved to London where I was fortunate enough to work at some fairly snazzy places before moving to Melbourne in 2015. My current goals are to patent the Leaney Martini, and to run a five-minute mile.

Aru is a modern Asian / Australian restaurant serving Asian-inspired dishes with native Australian ingredients, most of which have been touched by fire. We have a sizeable wine list showcasing Old and New World wines and our cocktail list is designed around fun. We like fruity, funky, sweet and sour drinks with a bent towards, gin, rum and tequila.

A large, warm and multi-leveled room, we cater for all from the business lunch to the family dinner and everything in between. Best time to come is just as lunch is winding down or pre- or postdinner rushes. We only have five stools at the bar, and these are first come, first served, and are in my biased opinion the best seats in the house.

DAZ’S HOME COCKTAIL TIPS

Other than buying the best you can afford I truly think using fresh ingredients and using good ice will do more for your home game than a lot of people realise. Let’s be honest, you’re probably not going to go to the effort of making cordials or fermenting fruits at home, but you can go to a market and grab some of the most delicious produce in the world. Shake that with the best spirits you can afford over some good quality large cubes of ice and strain over some more of that good ice and Robert’s your mother’s brother.

DAZ’S DREAM BAR:

Harry’s Bar, Calle Callaresso 1323, 30124 Venice

LAST NIGHT OF DAZ’S LIFE BAR:

Dukes Bar, 35 St James’s Place, St James, London

LAST NIGHT OF DAZ’S LIFE DRINK:

A dry Plymouth Martini with a twist of Amalfi lemon

DAZ’S NIGHT OFF BAR:

The Napier Hotel, 210 Napier Street, Fitzroy

DAZ’S TOP 4 COCKTAILS

DAZ’S T25 HERO COCKTAIL

I was inspired for my drink by the two hero and standout ingredients of Hendrick’s, cucumber and rose and how these two botanicals can be linked in taste via their aroma compounds. Building off the creamy green nature of cucumber, honeydew melon lends a creamy and floral note, while wasabi reinforces the overall green and creamy feel of cucumber. A touch of Umeshu adds sweetness and mouthfeel, but also a tart floral note, all balanced and cut with green and grassy lime. Hendrick’s was introduced in 1999 and the name of this drink Pretend Marriage is taken from Prince’s 1982 album, 1999.

1. Freezer Martini

INGREDIENTS:

• 50ml gin (or vodka) • 2.5ml dry vermouth • 5ml water METHOD: Put gin or vodka in freezer ahead of time. Stir with garnish in final serving glass, then express the lemon twist oils over drink. GARNISH: Lemon twist GLASS: Frozen small coupette

2. Americano / Negroni

INGREDIENTS:

Americano:

• 25ml Campari • 25ml red vermouth • 100ml soda water (Vichy

Catalan or another mineral forward water

Negroni:

• 25ml Campari • 25ml vermouth • 25ml gin (25ml yuzushu if using) METHOD: Build over ice and stir to combine. These are easy recipes to experiment with. Play around with different amaro or vermouth or grab that bottle of freezer gin! GARNISH:

Americano: orange slice. Negroni: orange slice + zest discard ICE:

Americano: cubed ice Negroni: cubed ice and larger block ice for serving GLASS:

Americano: Highball Negroni: Rocks

3. Frozen Margarita

INGREDIENTS:

• 50ml blanco Tequila • 30ml lime • 20ml 2:1 sugar syrup • approx 6 ice cubes METHOD: Blend with ice until it is the consistency of a frozen Coke. Pour into a salt rimmed glass and enjoy. GARNISH: Salt rim and lime wheels ICE: 6 pieces cubed ice GLASS: Rocks

4. Old Fashioned and a Hot Bath

INGREDIENTS:

• 50ml bourbon • 5ml gomme syrup (2:1) • 3 dashes Angostura bitters • Small pinch sea salt. METHOD: Build over cubed ice and stir for 30 seconds. Strain over large block ice. GARNISH: Orange zest ICE: Cubed for stirring and block ice for serving GLASS: Rocks

ARU

Aru is a place of tradition and technique, of authentic flavours and artful presentation. It is a place where quality always warrants the time and effort, and what appears on the plate sings of refinement, experimentation, and care.

The Aru fine-dining experience takes its influence from South-East Asian precolonial trading routes. The period’s flavours and techniques have been studied, learnt and adapted, and as a result Aru boasts a dedicated cool-room complete with hearth for preparing cured meats, along with a fermentation room for preparing traditional sauces. The dishes on offer are all modern renditions on the precolonial flavours of China, Japan, Indigenous Australia, and SouthEast Asia. Aru is an elegant and roomy restaurant, and the seats at the bar are a great option for a bit of solo indulgence. The clear view of the kitchen reveals just how much effort goes into each dish, and it’s pretty cool to watch the best in the business work together so seamlessly.

Equally impressive is Darren Leaney behind the bar. With a cocktail list directly influenced by the precolonial Asian fusion theme, expect exciting and unique drinks that highlight traditional, age-old ingredients like calamansi (Filipino lime) and banh chuoi (Vietnamese banana cake). Also on offer is a choice of almost 400 wines ranging from Burgundy magnums to Australian skin-contact naturals.

Aru is open Tuesday-Saturday from 12pm-late, and can be found in The Walk Arcade at 268 Little Collins St, Melbourne.

For more information email info@aru.net.au or call (03) 9939 8113.

PRETEND MARRIAGE

BY: DARREN LEANEY | ARU SPONSOR: HENDRICK’S GIN

Sweet and creamy honeydew melon, floral Umeshu and a whiff of wasabi work harmoniously to make for a refreshingly bright take on the gin sour. Throw some crushed ice into the mix and you’ve got yourself your next spring fling!

INGREDIENTS:

• 35ml Hendricks Gin • 15ml umeshu • 20ml honeydew syrup* • 25ml lime juice • 2 dashes (or a small pinch) of salt • very small squeeze of Wasabi paste

METHOD: Shake hard with cubed ice. Double strain over shaved ice and garnish. Top with more shaved ice.

GARNISH: Cucumber slices around the rim and two short straws.

ICE: Cubed ice for shaking and shaved ice for service

GLASS: Large coupe

*HONEYDEW SYRUP Method: In a large container coat thin slices of honeydew melon with sugar and cover. Leave to macerate for a couple of days at room temperature until all the sugar has dissolved. Strain and bottle. Alternatively, use a juicer to extract the juice from a honeydew melon. Measure the volume, and add that weight in caster sugar, stirring to dissolve.