Some dads collect watches; others treat the weekend Bunnings trip as sacred territory, accumulating an ever-growing shed of outdoor cooking equipment, a drinks cabinet that rivals the local bottle-o, and a standing invitation for the whole street to come over when the footy’s on (they may also collect watches).
So for the dad who loves to entertain, Father's Day is the perfect chance to give him better tools and toys to keep doing exactly what he already loves doing – we love him for it; the whole street does. Here’s a list of the best BBQs, whisky, wines and more that are bound to make your old man’s day this year.
Fire & Smoke
Every serious backyard chef eventually ends up with a Big Green Egg Medium ($2,499) – it’s just an inevitability that every dad who considers himself a decent host has to accept. The ceramic kamado grill has earned its reputation as the original in the category, and this built-in package comes with everything needed to go straight from the box to the backyard – even a bag of natural lump charcoal.
For the dad chasing something more tactile, there's the Pig & Pilgrim The P1 ($2,850), a height-adjustable parrilla-style grill that’s handmade to order in Sydney. Yes, it’s as premium as it sounds.
We loved it when we took a model for review last month; there’s just something so instinctive when you cook with fire, and the P1’s incredible design gives total control over heat and smoke.
If pizza night is more his speed, the Gozney Dome (Gen 2) ($2,999) runs on wood, charcoal, or propane and hits 500°C thanks to its signature lateral rolling flame.
A 40% larger cooking floor than the original Dome means room for a 16-inch pizza or a full roast, and a digital console with dual meat probes takes the guesswork out of everything else.
Speaking of guesswork, the MEATER PRO ($249) removes it entirely. It’s a wireless thermometer that measures internal and ambient temperature simultaneously via five internal sensors and sends that information directly to your phone (from as far as 75 metres away), even alerting you when your meat reaches its desired temperature ahead of its rest. I’ve had one for about three years now, and I won’t ever fire up the barbeque without it.
Once the food's sorted, keep the drinks cold with a YETI Tundra 45 Hard Cooler ($475) – this certainly isn’t your old man’s old Esky. It can hold 54 cans or 16 kilograms of ice, and backs it up with T-REX lid latches and can even protect your most prized possessions from bear attacks (it’s even approved by the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee). It's comically overbuilt for an Australian backyard, which is exactly why you need it.
Sound & Vision
No hosting setup is complete without the right soundtrack, and Marshall’s Stanmore IV ($679) delivers it in the brand's unmistakable amp-inspired form. This Swedish-engineered system not only looks the part, but it delivers unbelievable audio quality wherever it lands in the home – which helps, given the brand’s Auracast that perfectly syncs your music as you move from room to room. Seriously.
For next year’s Origin series, the Hisense 65" UR8S RGB MiniLED TV ($2,999) is the ultimate gameday screen for when your dad’s invited half the footy club over for Game Two. Over 5,600 independently controlled MiniLED zones, a native 180Hz refresh rate, and up to 4,000 nits of peak brightness make it as suited to kick-off as it is to whatever's queued up on Netflix once everyone's gone home.
The Drinks Cabinet
I believe it was Aristotle who once said, “A host is only as good as what's on the bar cart…” (maybe not), and a bottle of The Glendronach Ode to the Dark ($149) is a serious place to start.
Bottled at cask strength and matured in exceptional Pedro Ximénez sherry casks, it's the richest release in the distillery's Master's Anthology series, called “the most intense and powerful expression of the Anthology series for a reason,” when we caught up with Dr. Rachel Barrie in Sydney.
Pour something a little sweeter alongside it with Angel's Envy Kentucky Straight Bourbon ($99.99), aged four to six years in new American oak before finishing for up to six months in Portuguese port casks. Same category, but completely different flavour profile. Both, however, are exquisite.
Round out the bar with the Four Pillars Melbourne Laneway Gin ($82), the first release in the distillery's new City Series. Built around Proud Mary coffee beans in Fitzroy, roasted wattle seed, and cacao nibs, it's designed to taste like "the evening's answer to a flat white.” Very Melbourne.
None of it means much without proper glassware, though, which is where the Riedel Vinum Single Malt Whisky Glasses ($130 for two) come in – a small upgrade, but one that makes every pour taste like it was worth the wait.
Hosting Essentials
Before the drinks come out, there's the small matter of entertainment, and The Local – The Ultimate Footy Drinking Card Game ($34.95) is built specifically to run alongside a live match.
Deal five cards before the first bounce, and whenever what's happening on screen matches a card in hand, that player drinks and draws again. No rules to memorise, thankfully. Which helps when the only one you need to worry about is topping up your mates’ drinks.
For the dad who takes his kitchen as seriously as his barbecue, the Misono UX10 Stainless Gyuto 240mm ($469) is a genuine step up. Hand-finished in Seki City, Japan, from high-purity Swedish stainless steel and hardened to 61 HRC, it holds an edge that most home cooks will never need to sharpen.
To read up on everything just poured, there's Oak, Wine & Spirits: A Tale of Alchemy ($205), Assouline's latest coffee-table release that’s got more between its pages than just a mantlepiece to tie the room together. With a preface from Alain Ducasse and over 150 photographs spanning cooperages in France, Scotland, and the United States, it traces the role oak plays in maturing everything from Champagne to bourbon. A quality read for any bloke who appreciates a good dram or two.
And for the dad who has everything, there's the RIMOWA x Winmau Dartboard Case ($10,635), the one that got the entire BH office talking when it dropped earlier this month.
It’s a serious piece of kit, built from the same anodised, grooved aluminium that made RIMOWA's luggage famous, manufactured in Germany, with double doors, a Winmau Blade X dartboard, dart sets with RIMOWA monograms, and a leather-lined storage pouch, all ready to hang straight on the wall.
Pub?
And if this year you fancy outsourcing the celebrations, Sydney's Odd Culture Group is running Father's Day offers across three of its inner west venues this year.
Newtown's Bistro Grenier has a $39pp Sunday Roast with a free beer for dad on any booking; The Old Fitzroy Hotel is pairing its Sunday Roast ($28 to $35pp) with live jazz from 2 PM and the same free beer for dad; and The Duke of Enmore is running live blues, a BBQ menu, and a badge draw with Bunnings vouchers up for grabs. How good.