Farm ale innovators La Sirène had collaborated with the degustation-only Restaurant Gaea at their Gertrude Street fine diner some time ago, so when MFWF 2025 came around, owner Costa Nikias knew it was time to invite them into his home.
Hosted in his Reservoir brewery, this one-off collab took diners on a journey exploring modern-Asian robatayaki cuisine among the French oak barrels of Bar La Sirène, pairing the wild and wonderful flavours of Nikias’s ales with five courses direct from the hibachi grill.
Here’s Nikias with how this hot-ticket event came together:
Give us the rundown on your event, how did it come together in the planning stages?
This is our second collaborative event with the team from Restaurant Gaea – the first was at their place on Gertrude Street, and it was an event that equally showcased both our wild ales and Mo’s amazing culinary skill. We knew that night that we needed to do something together again; it was then that we committed to inviting them over to our place for chapter two. I’ve always wanted to have an event featuring food from the hibachi grill, and the Gaea team had a couple, so that was the starting point for the dinner. We invited Mo and Charles around to the brewery to explore logistics, to taste some of the beers for pairing and it really flowed from there.
What did everyone eat and drink?
The menu was modern Australian and modern Asian with a key focus on robatayaki – a real celebration of charcoal and quality produce. We had five courses all up, each paired with one of our wild ales. It was a stunning menu and it seemed like everyone had their own special highlights which was fantastic to hear. For me it was the rainbow trout alongside our Bière de Provision.
And on the day, how did it go, what was the highlight?
The night was all that we could’ve hoped for! A sold out event, amazing dishes which were perfectly matched with our artisan ales, and a great vibe in the room. The highlight for me was seeing everyone enjoying themselves and experiencing our wild ales as they’re intended to be enjoyed – alongside great food and shared with good friends.
Do you have any insights on collaborating with others?
Every collaboration is a little different and I think the best insight is to have shared and open dialogue from start to finish. It’s about finding the model that works for both parties in the collab and running with it. I think the greatest success in this collab was our shared vision – early on we knew the focus of the event and we worked closely together to make that a reality.
Any curveballs or challenges along the way, or perhaps something new you learned?
We’ve had a few events at our place now, and with each one, things run a lot smoother than the last! The biggest challenge we had was realising we didn’t have enough spoons when it came time to roll out dessert. We quickly pivoted and made it all work – luckily our chef Andy had his own special spoon stash. When that’s the biggest curveball, we’re pretty happy!
Every year the question we’re asked most around event submission time is about price points and inclusions. What can you tell us about how you landed here?
We had a price point in mind, based on our previous experiences both at our place and elsewhere and what we thought would attract the numbers and still be tenable for both us and Gaea. We chatted with the Gaea team and they were happy to work with the proposal we had. I think what we were able to offer was amazing value for the guests, and it was a full house which was a great outcome.
Everyone wants their event to stand out. What advice would you give to other hospitality operators when they’re brainstorming for their next event?
We love a collaboration and this was a key element for us. Working with someone who has their own customer base, aligned brand philosophies and who you have an existing working relationship with. Then it was just a case of starting with a spark of an idea and letting it flow naturally from there. When it feels right and you don’t have to overthink the idea, I think that’s when it stands out.
How did you promote your event?
We did it all in-house – this is always our model and keeps us in touch with how promotion is going. Ours was squarely in the space of social media, word-of-mouth at the brewery and eDMs to our established customer base.
What about the best event you’ve been to recently, what made it so memorable?
Recently we launched a new wine-hybrid wild ale collab with Defialy Wines at our brewery in Reservoir. As part of it we tried out a new model with Micah from Defialy taking over our wine list for the weekend. It was a great chance to showcase and celebrate his wines and to invite people to experience the collaboration beer too. We loved the energy in the room with Micah pouring and introducing his wines and inviting people to explore and interact with both of our creations.
We’re always working to plan our next event – be it a casual beer launch or party or a sit-down degustation. Our email subscribers are always first to hear, plus we always post upcoming events on our socials. Our space is also set up for private and corporate functions, so please reach out! We love chatting through people’s plans and making ideas come together.
La Sirène Brewing, 277 Edwardes St, Reservoir, lasirene.com.au, @lasirenebrewing