When a pub closes its doors in Sydney, the city waits with bated breath, hoping another historic and beloved venue hasn’t closed forever. Many still mourn the loss of icons such as The Oxford Tavern in Petersham, The Hopetoun Hotel in Surry Hills, or further back, the reportedly haunted Victoria Royal Hotel in Darlinghurst.
But when a pub changes hands, the feeling is often met with anticipation and cautious optimism. Will the schnitty remain on the menu? Will they finally fix the leaking roof above the outdoor tables? Will the carpet be torn up and sold as memento squares? (A rumoured plan that circulated when The Huntsbury Hotel in Lewisham announced renovations).
From an economic perspective, it’s a difficult time to be starting any business venture in Australia. For hospitality providers, the challenges are palpable, and arguably more taxing than any other industry at present. According to research from credit reporting bureau CreditorWatch, food and beverage service providers are now at higher risk of failure than any other business – not to mention the looming tax debt that hangs heavily over more hospitality operators than those in any other industry.
Despite these challenges, operators aren’t shying away. In recent months, Sydney has seen JDA Hotels (owners of Mountbatten Hotel and Great Southern Bar) purchase The Unicorn Hotel; Locky Paech’s Good Time Hospitality sell The East Village Hotel to Tipple Time Hospitality; Laundy Hotels (owners of more than 40 New South Wales venues including the Watsons Bay Boutique Hotel) take over The Lord Nelson Hotel, and a fresh lease of The Bat and Ball go to a newly formed group.
For operators, pub ownership comes with the potential of high risk and high reward. The scale and locations of the pubs often makes for increased operating costs, but established names and prime locations can equate to strong patronage.
While optimism remains for the much-needed revamp and renewal of Aussie pub icons, Sydneysiders can feel protective of their historic institutions. So what are new operators doing to appease locals and provide an even better experience, while ensuring profitability?
New Bat and Ball leaseholders Zac Godbolt (Doom Juice), Dan McBride and Dynn Szmulewicz (Enmore Country Club, The Sunshine Inn, The Little Guy, ex-Golden Gully), Rachael Paul (former manager of The Sunshine Inn and Golden Gully), and Cameron Votano (Lowkey, BTB Kirribilli) united over their shared love of hospitality.
Armed with a wealth of combined experience and a handful of nostalgia, the quintet is tackling its first attempt at running a pub – and the community responsibility that comes with it. “We love the concept of the Australian public house,” says McBride. “I think it rings differently for all of us. But the one thing that runs through that theme is that we all have stories or memories, or our parents or grandparents have good memories or attachments, to old pubs. Even The Bat and Ball … you only have to talk to an uncle or an auntie and they’ve all got memories from back in the day.”
One of the main goals for the team was to preserve the pub’s traditional heritage while drawing on its history. “Some new pub renos are really cool, and we’ve got a lot of respect for a lot of people that do that, but it’s not really our style,” says McBride. “We didn’t want to whitewash the walls or make it modern. We wanted to salvage as much of that traditional look and feel as we could and bring back that old aesthetic.”
McBride seems cautious about using the term, but eventually lands on “retrofitting” to describe the renovations. The team salvaged old tiles and the pub carpet (“although we’ll eventually have to replace that,” he admits). They added timber, natural textures, paint where it was needed, and opened the floorplan.
“We tried to make sure anything we added or changed fit the old beauty that was already there,” he says. McBridge notes the pub had changed hands multiple times before they secured the venue, meaning there “was a lot of stuff on top of the old beauty”.
In addition, stripping and redecorating a venue is a wasteful venture, both cost-wise and environmentally. McBride says a large part of the revamp was focused on striking the right balance between making the venue affordable and profitable. “Prices are always going up, right? Wages are also increasing, which I think is really good in the hospitality industry,” he says. “Cost of goods are going up and rent is going up. Sometimes it can feel like small independent business owners are hesitant to up prices because it has a negative flow effect.”
While it’s a tough time for businesses, McBride acknowledges it’s just as tough for punters. “Prices are really high in Sydney and not everything needs to be marked up like that … I’m passionate about fair pricing,” he says. “It’s about trying finding a happy medium between making the consumer happy and also the supplier.”
This attitude is reflected in the prices at the pub, which offers affordable nightly food specials such as discounted pasta on Tuesdays, steaks on Thursday, and “buck-a-shuck” oysters on Saturdays. “We are really aware of the fact that people want to go and have a schooner or a glass of wine and a meal and not spend their entire pay check,” says McBride.
The beverage menu is also varied, with Reschs on tap, $16 Negronis and espresso martinis, and $10 house red and white, both of which are “good quality, solid wines”.
Not far away on a leafy part of Oxford Street, Mary’s Group recently called last orders on its “stewardship” of The Unicorn. The art deco hotel has long been a mainstay in Sydney’s inner east – beloved for its chicken schnitzel floating in a bed of mash and gravy and pokies-free environment.
Brothers Dean and John Feros, of JDA Hotels, visited the pub often when they were younger. “We had a little bit of connection to it, and we like that style of pub … we just want to freshen it up,” says Dean.
The pub is an opportunity for the Feros family to diversify its current portfolio away from poker machine-supported pubs and incorporate a venue that is “a little bit outside our wheelhouse”.
As new regulations are discussed around gambling in New South Wales (the state that boasts some of the highest poker machines-per-capita in the world), Feros saw the pub as a safe option. “Also, you’re paying a bit less to acquire a pub that doesn’t have poker machines, so it evens itself out,” he adds.
Alongside potential changes to gambling laws, the economy is always a consideration says Feros. “Like everyone else, we’re hoping interest rates have gone as high as they’re going to go and we’re hoping there might be a bit of relief, if not in the next couple of months, then early next year.”
When The Unicorn sold, there was public speculation that a major rehaul would destroy the pub’s classic Aussie pub aesthetic and offering. Feros reassures Hospitality that it won’t be a “big new shiny hotel with no soul”. Rather, the team plans to maintain and enhance what already exists while putting their own stamp on it. “We feel like it’s been a long time since a fair bit of money has been spent on the place,” he says. “It still has a really good vibe and good soul to it, so we want to continue with that.”
After renovations were delayed because of heritage zoning that required DA approval, the reopening has been pushed back till early next year, if all goes to plan. JDA Hotels plans to deliver a “some good pub grub” upstairs, with the downstairs dining space revolving around a cocktail par and late-night European-style food, although details are still being ironed out. While a chef is yet to be confirmed, Dean Sammut from Future Foods is consulting with the team to find the right fit.
And for the many invested patrons who have approached the Feros brothers with concerns about the schnitty disappearing from the menu, rumour has it, there’s no need to worry.
Although there’s no sure-fire way to please everyone, new owners are working hard to strike a balance between honouring community and ensuring profitability without losing the soul of Australia’s quintessential meeting place. As McBride points out, “I don’t think you can ever please everyone”.
Photography: Angus Bell Young / Brewcasa; JDA Hotels
