After years of chatter and months of searching, an ambitious trio have found a home for their concept a queer-friendly bar, Bernie's Bar, at the former Star hotel on King Street in Newcastle West.
The venue, Bernie's Bar, will open on Tuesday, May 16.
The founders are Patrick Fisher, Kitt Nissen and Hollie 'Gracie' Tose.
"It's a pretty exciting time," Fisher told me on April 17. "We got the keys this morning. We are thrilled to be in this space and just getting started."
In a little over three weeks since taking possession, they have cleaned the venue, repainted, and made some strategic internal changes to bring their dream of a queer bar to reality.
Historic name
The name comes from a legendary establishment etched in Newcastle's queer history.
"We're calling it Bernie's, which was the original venue in Hamilton in 1920s, which became Bernie's Wine Bar, which became the first queer bar in Newcastle," Tose says. "The idea of Bernie's was that everyone could come together. And that's sort of thread we're looking at continuing. Bernie's from 1920s, now Bernie's in 2020s."
While securing the lease at the famed Star Hotel venue was almost a coincidence, historically, it's a perfect fit. Tose says the Star was Newcastle's first trans bar, and a drag bar as well, in the 1970s and 1980s.
Both Fisher and Tose say they've received a groundswell of community support for the concept.
"No one at any point has said, 'I can't see this working'," Fisher says. "Everyone has said, 'Wow, this is overdue' and 'I can't believe it hasn't happened already' and 'How can I help?' It's been pretty overwhelming for us, but that's what's got it this far."
Food and drink
Fisher is a chef and will handle the kitchen. Bernie's plans to open six days a week, offering lunch and dinner. And brunch on weekends ("Brunch is a big thing in the gay community, so we'll be doing weekend brunches," Tose says.)
"We'll have a light, colourful menu," Fisher says. "We're going to step away from all that golden brown pub food you get, and bring a bit of excitement and colour to the culinary scene."
The ala carte dining menu will feature share plates, tapas, mezze plates, charcuterie boards, and beautiful desserts.
Nissen is the licensee and will run the bar operations. There will be eight taps, with a mix of offerings from predominantly local brewers and distilleries, Fisher says. Expect Earp Brothers and Good Folk Brewing products to be stocked.
"We'll have non-alcoholic taps, full non-alcoholic lagers and ginger beer," Fisher says. Even non-alcoholic gins. "And a wild cocktails and mocktails menu."
The little things
The venue will feature gender neutral toilets (a stand-up one and a sit-down one, Tose says), and a community library ("a place where you find information, find resources, see representations," Tose says).
There will be a "selfie" wall, to announce who you are and where you are.
It will still have a small stage in the corner, and curtains will be added to allow intimate events or functions, like life drawing.
And functions will include events like a queer history night. "We been disconnected for last five or six years," Tose says. "There is a whole generation who haven't had a place to come, that's just for queer folk. A lot of them want to know about the history, a place to learn. This is not a nightclub."
Events
Tose, who has extensive experience in events management, has outlined an extensive program for the venue.
"The bar is a physical manifestation of the online world," she says. "That's how you find each other."
Fisher says, "We are facilitating that process of self-discovery. If we were here just selling beer and schnitzels, we would go bust. We're not here just to sell things, we're here to help them create their stories."
"We'll have burlesque nights, a monthly coming out party - anybody's who's come out or wants to welcome someone to the community can come along and do it, queer poetry, life drawing, a range of things, trivia, karaoke," Tose says.
"Everything from parties to more intimate things, and some events to cater to mature queer crowd as well, so we'll have golden daytime events, wine tastings, whisky tasting, jazz nights. A degustation or two."
The bar will open with a soft launch from Tuesday, May 16, with limited events and staff training.
The major launch will be on Thursday, June 1, to kick off Pride Month.
