Roxie’s crew take over West Oak Hotel
This is the hospitality group’s effort to “give a little bit more life back to the west end” before some owners also take over The Ed Castle during the Cranker’s two-year hiatus.
For Tom Skipper, managing director of the Crown & Anchor Pty Ltd., a lot of “misspent youth of [his] uni days” was spent at the West Oak premises (then Worldsend Hotel), “playing pool and drinking pale ale”.
“It’s pretty close to home. 20 years ago, I used to spend almost all my days in here,” he says.
“I’ve always loved it. I think this pub is one of the last few bastions of the old era of what pubs were.
“The fridges are still the old wooden swing door fridges. You’ve got terrazzo fronted bar, the bones in this pub are still a characteristic of how it used to be.
“There’s not too many pubs that have been renovated that still hold dear to that historical charm.
“Although there’s a lot to love about this pub, whilst it’s obviously been given a nice, fresh-faced look, it still has its roots back to its early days.”
Tom alongside the former general manager of Roxie’s and Chateau Apollo Timothy Read have joined Frame Creative’s Tim, Simon and Sam Pearce and “bought out all of the old shareholders” of West Oak Hotel. They share a third each.
This comes after east end establishments Roxie’s and Chateau Apollo were demolished as part of the agreement to house a student accommodation tower on the former site.
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The neighbouring venue, the Crown & Anchor, will remain but will close for a two years from July 20. The pub will relocate to The Ed Castle premises during the two-year development period.
Taking over the West Oak Hotel is the group’s effort to “give a little bit more life back to the west end”.
“Given that you’ve got now two pubs [including The Ed Castle] in such close proximity, it’s really building on the legacy we left down on the east end,” Tom says.
“[We’ll be ] dialling up that midweek activity, whether it be a Wednesday, or Thursday, getting that happening again.
“The atmosphere and the comfortable home that was Roxie’s for so many people is long gone now that the property’s been demolished. So it would be really great to rehouse them up here and create a different offering, but something that stays true to the core values of what Roxie’s delivered for people for many years.”
But Timothy says “it’s not trying to drag down and replicate Roxie’s” as the standing pub is its “own entity”.
“It has a similar soul to Roxie’s and be able to play on that and maybe bring a little bit more of it with us,” he says.
This move is not a “complete cookie-cutter model”, Tom says.
“There’ll be certain parts that fit, certain parts that don’t. We’ve identified this pub as its growth opportunity around delivering great gastronomic pub food,” he says.
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“It’s very much for the short-term goal for us is to really turn the food we’re delivering around and base it pretty much on what you’d expect at some of those great gastropubs in Melbourne and Sydney.
“That’s really where we want to take it.”
Although the menu is to still be finalised, the team “have plans to build a pizza oven in the garden” and introduce different items to the menu in line with a gastropub.
“It’s got a really good pub special, sort of suburban hotel, sort of counter meal vibe, but we’re also going to elevate that with some more premium offerings and trying to hit most markets without doing a 50-item menu,” Timothy says.
“We want people to come here for their drinks and get some… high-end nibbles that they can enjoy with some really good quality flavours…you can still come in and get a burger if that’s what you’re feeling as well.
“And we’ll do some work with our drinks, especially our wine list and our beer offerings, to complement those offerings.”
The West Oak Deli will remain as it “works really well”.
“We’ll build on it. It’s going really well. But there’s obviously some things we want to expand on, which will complement that new menu,” Timothy says.
The West Oak Hotel also wants to reintroduce itself “back to an older demographic”.
“We’re not really pigeonholing ourselves anymore, back to that young demographic, which is what the West Oak used to be around with the Westy Thursdays,” Tom says.
“It’s breaking that mould and trying to be a pub for a greater audience, specifically. I guess it’s really reaffirming ourselves with all those people who still knew it as the Worldsend Hotel.”
Timothy says he and the team “have a lot of plans” for the space.
“It works pretty well here – it’s got a good vibe, and there’s a lot of people coming in here for the coffee. The deli works really well. It’s got a good lunch crowd, a lot of specials, and the evening crowd after work and uni,” Timothy says.
“It doesn’t need a whole lot initially, but we do have some long-term plans, mostly surrounding new menu, new functions, offering just sort of our bread and butter, and then moving into a few aesthetic changes in time when we can.”
West Oak Hotel is located at 208 Hindley Street, Adelaide and is open everyday from 12pm.
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