Brilliant bar food, cocktails selling for over $200, the negroni craze – it's a year of excess and nostalgia.

Bittersweet symphony

Just when we thought the negroni had reached its peak, the Aperol Spritz craze took charge and we fell even more in love with Italy's zest for bittersweet bracers.

While neither of these drinks has lost a foothold in the marketplace, their popularity has spurred a more profound interest in vermouth, amaro and other old-world elixirs consumed at either end of a big meal.

Continental Deli (210 Australia Street, Newtown) has long been a flagbearer for aromatised wines and continues to make a solid case for them, as does the aperitivo-centric Piccolo Bar (6 Roslyn Street, Potts Point), where owner Dave Spanton offers regular tastings and masterclasses.

Down at Apollonia (5-7 Young Street, Sydney), the drinking den in the Hinchcliff House basement, amaro is a key player in the impressive cocktails, which take inspiration from The Godfather.

But it's weeks-old Bar Conte (340 Riley Street, Surry Hills) that's taking the obsession to another level with a walloping 20 negroni iterations on the menu as well as 30-odd amari, including precious bottles from owner Raffaele Lombard's personal stash.

The rise (and rise) of bar food

We've come a long way since the days of "Nuts or olives?" Where killer snacks and considered cooking once seemed restricted to European-style wine bars, they're now a fixture at all manner of watering holes across town.

The Takeover Tuesday series at PS40 (40 King Street, Sydney) has been a huge success, installing chefs from big-name restaurants like Firedoor and Sixpenny in the kitchen for one-off nights of small plates and matching drinks.

Breweries are also kicking goals, with Toby Wilson's Ricos Tacos popping up on weekends at The Grifter Brewing Co (shop 1, 391-397 Marrickville Road, Marrickville) and Hotluck founder Gaspar Tse overseeing the nibbles at neighbouring Wildflower (11-13 Brompton Street, Marrickville).

Bronte Road sensation Frank's Deli, meanwhile, is on permanent Reuben sandwich duty at newly opened beachfront brewpub Curly Lewis (102-106 Campbell Parade, Bondi Beach).

For a more souped-up affair, it's tough to go past the overhauled seafood-heavy carte at The Rover (75 Campbell Street, Surry Hills) but the lure of wicked onion dip and wood-fired flatbreads at spiffy Charlie Parker's (380 Oxford Street, Paddington) is equally hard to resist.

Spirit of Australia

Scan the list of spirits at Dulcie's (44 Darlinghurst Road, Kings Cross), the subterranean speakeasy on the infamous Golden Mile, and you won't spot a single product that isn't Australian.

Stocking a bar with home-grown hooch would have been a challenge not all that long ago, but an upswing in the number of distilleries (more than 300 today, compared with just 28 in 2014) has set new standards that are too good to ignore.

You can taste your way through the nation's finest at local boozers like Golden Gully (153 Norton Street, Leichhardt) and The Sunshine Inn (180 Redfern Street, Redfern) or Bar Planet (16 Enmore Road, Newtown), where the dynamite martinis are only ever mixed with Antipodean gin or vodka.

Tipplers who prefer sipping straight from the source are now properly spoiled for choice as well, with Hickson House Distilling Co (6 Hickson Road, Dawes Point), Manly Spirits Co (shop 4a, 9-13 Winbourne Road, Brookvale), Brix Distillers (350 Bourke Street, Surry Hills) and the Yarra Valley's Four Pillars (410 Crown Street, Surry Hills) all shaking up the local distillery scene.

Taking it Japanesy

Yes, that is yuzu in your Gimlet and umeshu in your Cobbler. And no, you're not the only one who thinks that Suntory Highballs might just be the next vodka, soda and lime.

Along with Sydney's newfound appetite for omakase dining has come a deeper engagement with Japanese flavours and the many facets of the island nation's drinking culture.

Tokyo Bird (shop 2, 226-228 Commonwealth Street, Surry Hills) and Bancho (10 Thomas Lane, Haymarket) were both early adopters, as was Tachinomi YP (shop 1, 20 Burlington Street, Crows Nest), which introduced the concept of the standing bar to Crows Nest in 2018.

In the time since, we've seen the izakaya – often referred to as Japan's pub equivalent – reach new heights at Nakano Darling (14 Steam Mill Lane, Haymarket) and welcomed a first-rate riff on the jazzu kissa (listening bar) with the arrival of Ante (146 King Street, Newtown).

Rekodo, a brand-new listening bar on level one of Barangaroo House (35 Barangaroo Avenue, Barangaroo) gives audiophiles and sake fanatics alike yet another reason to celebrate.

The rich list

After long months at home taking Zoom calls in pyjamas, it's safe to say that most of us are desperate for a bit of luxury. Little wonder, then, that caviar, wagyu, truffles and market-price seafood have been all the rage at restaurants this year.

Never ones to shy away from excess, Sydney's top-end bars are doing their part to razzle-dazzle us, too.

The Millionaire's Margarita ($100) is back at the reopened Bar Patron (2 Phillip Street, Sydney), featuring nitro-chilled finger lime pearls and a gold-leaf garnish, while the team at Maybe Sammy (115 Harrington Street, The Rocks) is whipping up a margarita for twice the price utilising rare Don Julio Real tequila.

At sky-high Sammy sibling Dean & Nancy on 22 (level 22, 2 Hunter Street, Sydney), you can score a Kyoto Sazerac with Yamazaki 12-year-old single malt whisky and Frapin VIP XO Cognac for a mere $119 – tableside service included.

Kittyhawk (16 Phillip Lane, Sydney), however, goes one step further with an eye-watering $250 rum and rye Old Fashioned.

Backward glance

Escapism is a fundamental part of why we go to bars. And if recent openings are anything to go by, the urge to be transported to another time has never been stronger.

Take Shell House (37 Margaret Street, Sydney), Brett Robinson's multimillion-dollar CBD funhouse, which pays homage to the building's interwar history in lavish detail across four venues spanning three different levels.

Over east at The Bar (InterContinental Sydney Double Bay, 33 Cross Street, Double Bay), you can call for a 50/50 martini, sink into an oversized armchair and be whisked to the halcyon days of Paris or London.

Or if you want to travel back to a 1980s RSL, all you need to do is visit The Bob Hawke Beer & Leisure Centre (8-12 Sydney Street, Marrickville).

But where some operators evoke sentimentality through ambience, others are using it as an ingredient.

Will's (Coogee Pavilion, 130a Beach Street, Coogee) is just one of a growing number of spots dusting off antique bottles of liquor so that drinkers can taste history in their cocktails. A Rob Roy ($67) starring vintage Chivas Regal from the 1970s and Tasmanian cherry wine? Coming right up.