Zeta Bar. Happy Birthday Buddy!

Zeta Bar turns 5! And what an adorable little 5 year old she is. The 5th birthday is really something to celebrate, it's when a child truly gains their own identity. They are no longer just a laughing, crying, eating, immobile mass of meat with liquids coming out of every orifice. They have passed the terrible two's and have gotten over the fascination of making things disappear down the magic 'flush hole'. Yes 5 is a momentous age, if not for the fact that they can be palmed off to public schools for 6 hours of the day, then for the first memorable beach trip where they can truly enjoy the wonders of the sea rather than just getting wet and rolling around in the sand (a kid schnitzel). Mama Hilton and Papa Belvedere organised a fantastic beach themed party for their little woman. Happy birthday Zeta!

cw: Papa Belvedere, Baby Zeta, Aunties Patty and Selma Chandeliers (aka Aunt Chandy), Mama Hilton. 

Much anticipation as we rode the glass elevator to the 4th floor having heard of Grant Collins (the mad scientist cocktail consultant for Zeta bar) previous efforts. As the doors opened we weren't disappointed, being greeted straight away with a Deconstructed Raspberry Mule, quickly followed by a Bellini chaser.  (Do you normally chase alcohol with more alcohol??). The Deconstructed Mule was tart and fizzy and everything you want from a deconstructed beverage. Not one to quench the thirst though, the Bellini stepped in to help on that front. My only issue with the Bellini was I think it should have been served in 1 litre steins it was that friggin' tasty!

Deconstructed Rasberry Moscow Mule with Fizz

Bellini with peach air

The bar was completely transformed with massive projections of old school beach prints on most walls and a whole bunch of sand brought in for the occasion.

cw: Martini glasses at the ready for the inevitable onslaught of thirsty beach goers; 

the band which were mostly ignored; Belvedere at the beach; Bar beached up.

Beach in a Bar: Bucket of Summer punch, a walking six pack 

and the poor recipient of the pick up line "do you come with the bucket of vodka?".

OK so we tried to be fashionably late but screw that I wanted a photo of Zeta's view of the QVB whilst there was still some light. Although there was terrible weather that day, luckily it had cleared up enough for the crowds to make the most of this balcony view.

Queen Victoria Building as seen from Zeta bar

Standing in the corner were plates and plates of toffee apples. They looked a little sad in the corner with not many people showing interest. I think the weather had caused them to start melting together. Presentation wasn't great as there were fork punctures for the cider to infuse into the apple. Toffee was sticky rather than brittle and how the heck to you eat a toffee apple whilst trying to schmooze people who you think may be celebrities? Doesn't make a great finger food but they did taste richly of apple cider which was also helped by the spray of cider as they were served.

Still smiling even though they aren't exactly selling like hot cakes.

What was more popular was the Chandon Fairy Floss! Chandon dehydrated into little sugar crystals then spun into floss and sprayed with ginger beer (if memory serves me). Brilliant! Poor girl couldn't keep up with the demand as she was also Long Island Ice Tea Snow Cones (bugger I didn't get a shot of this one).

The beautiful staff that kept us all liquored up and fed throughout the night. 

cw: White Sangria, Chandon Fairy Floss, Mini Burgers, Alcoh-Gelato

Oops I don't think a spinning room was part of the theme. Best to get some food. Hmmm even the food is laced with alcohol. Oh well, when in Rome.

Roast beef salad with mixed peppers and rum salsa

So after five servings of alcohol I guess it's safe to have some raw tuna, no alcohol in sight with this dish. Is it just me or is that slice of cucumber gigantic?

Tuna with wasabi mayonnaise on cucumber

The Pink Grapefruit and Ginger Cosmopolitans were a smash. And going fast too! Don't stop to get a photo or you may miss out.

Hey hands off my Pink Grapefruit and Ginger Cosmopolitan!

Me so sleepy now. Just entertain yourselves with these photos of food whilst I take a nap.

Fish and Chips

 
 Mini Pizzas

Pumpkin and Ricotta Parcels with Passionfruit Sour Cream

Coconut crumbed Prawns with Mango Mayonnaise

Mini Burgers

Oh hey look more drinks!

Forgot what this was but hey look a beached whale outfit in the background 

And the people watching.

Arrnot Olssen, Faye De Lanty, Nikita Sernack

Do you come with the giant bottle of vodka?

A festive trio

Chillin' on the quieter balcony

What a night! Gummi Baby said she felt the vodka sterilized her from the inside out curing her of her allergies. Yaya was a tad blurry-eyed the next day having stayed up all night researching Polish vodka. Bisycl said she dreamt she was in not one, not two, but three different movies. Yes Polish vodka makes her dream in trilogies. Hope it was Back to the Future. As for me, it was porpoise position all night long. Yep, dolphin dived into my bed face down, arms to the side and didn't move till sun up. Thanks to the Hilton, Belvedere Vodka, Chandon and Sian at Mark Communications for a great night.

Disclaimer: Readers may get the impression I don't like kids from the first paragraph. Just wanted to say I love kids, I just don't like cleaning up after them. In my opinion the nappy doesn't go far enough, it doesn't help when a kid vomits or gets snotty. I can't wait until the day they invent a disposable ninja suit for kids where they can be as gross as they want to all day then we throw them in a dishwasher-esque contraption and the suit just melts away like those plastic wrappers around the dishwasher pellet (how cool are melting plastic wrappers!). 2 hours later, out comes a shiny new, steam cleaned baby ready to entertain everyone with their googoos and gaga's. Until that suit is invented, I'll stick with my toilet paper, wrapped like a mummy solution. I'll just shut up now before I need a disclaimer for this disclaimer.