It’s no secret a new speakeasy-style lounge bar is the culmination of owner Tenelle Bond’s passion and hard work.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Dubbo mum had long envisioned a venue that would fill a “niche in the market”.
Taking the plunge, Mrs Bond opened the Establishment Bar Dubbo in Macquarie Street this month.
Its first patrons are arriving to a newly-fitted out hospitality space, unrecognisable from its former use as an office.
Pre-dinner and post-dinner drinks, coffee and light snacks are on its menu as jazz music sets a scene reminiscent of New York in the Prohibition era.
Mrs Bond said she created what she herself wished for, a place to go that was not a restaurant and was not a pub.
The self-confessed night owl said while Mudgee, Orange and Bathurst had similar establishments, there was a niche in the market at Dubbo.
“It’s nothing for me to go out at 10 o’clock at night and look for a coffee, and at times I couldn’t really find that in Dubbo,” Mrs Bond said.
“So I thought I’d create my own little spot.”
While the lounge bar invites people to "journey back in time", the family’s investment in it is all about their future.
Mrs Bond said after having children she had found it hard to find a role in the workforce that suited her and her family.
So she and husband Robert took the decision to find something that “suited our passions and our dreams and all we wanted to move forward with”, and the result was the bar.
It was “a big investment”, but they had moved back to Dubbo from the Gold Coast four years ago with that goal in mind, Mrs Bond said.
“This seems like a funny thing to go into when you’ve got small kids, [but] I get to go to the school things, I get to help out with school, and I get to be able to do both, and why shouldn’t you,” she said.
“I don’t think you should have to miss out on your dreams, just because you’re a parent.
“I think if there’s a will, there’s a way, but it’s got to be what works for you, because every family’s different.”
The presence of family at Dubbo was also crucial, and they all “share[d] the load”.
“We have our family here, I grew up with a big family around me, I want my children to explore that same thing,” Mrs Bond said.
Giving her children “the best start I can” motivated the mum and she said the bar also showed them the value of hard work.
“...I keep hearing them say, ‘Mum when I grow up, I can work in the bar, I can do this and I’ll have the bar’,” Mrs Bond said.
“So they’ve taken ownership already, so they know where it’s come from, and Dubbo’s allowed us to have that work-life balance.”
- READ ALSO: Firing up cuisine of Japan | Video
The business has employed “a handful” of staff, their employer telling of her “great team”.
A whiskey class planned for February 26 has already sold out.
The bar owner said they wanted to be in the CBD area close to the theatre, the movies, and restaurants.
After a long search the Macquarie Street premises was leased through Andrew McDonald Commercial.