The staged, multi-million dollar renovation of The Winston, in Sydney’s Norwest area is now complete, with the opening of Cala bistro and cocktail bar.
The Palm Springs-style bistro and cocktail bar opened in late September, with the mid-century design featuring timber framing, pitched ceilings and bold retro graphic accents in the bistro. Floor-to-ceiling glass walls open onto an outdoor dining area with cabanas. The outdoor space is enriched with natural materials, terracotta tones and greenery. The cocktail lounge, inspired by the peachy colours and curved shapes, welcomes guests with soft, blush pink hues and a reflective ceiling.
The Cala menu features pub classics alongside a wood-fired pizza selection, weekly specials and steaks straight from the grill. Menu highlights include grilled half shell scallops as a starterand grilled whole lemon sole with rocket tomato and olive salad, sage butter and chips as a main to share.
The new cocktail lounge menu includes seasonal flavoured margaritas, amaretto sours and a cocktail trolley with a selection of fruity mojitos muddled at the table. These creative cocktails are complemented by a selection of local craft beers and wines.
Speaking about the new look and offer, publican Andrew Thomas told Australian Hotelier it was reflective of both in changing patron behaviour, as well as a change to the local demographic.
“Over the years, people’s drinking habits have changed. People are drinking less. They’re drinking better. They’re also eating well, eating healthy. There was also the repositioning of the market, the Winston Hills demographics are changing as well.
“A lot of the older, blue collar Australians in the area are selling their homes and downsizing as house prices in the north-west corrider are getting expensive, while a different clientele moving into the area,” stated Thomas.
“We’ve seen people move into the area from areas like the North Shore and Northern Beaches who are looking for a little more land. So in a venue offer they’re looking for something a little more upmarket.”
The renovation has transformed The Winston into a pub that is more intimate and more female-friendly. Thomas said that additions like the cocktail cart “add some interaction and theatre.”
The Cala bistro and cocktail lounge was the second stage of the renovation, while the first stage of the renovation – Taffy’s Sports Bar and the alfresco dining area – opened in early July. With such an extensive change in look and offer, Thomas says it took some getting used to by the regulars.
“It was a bit difficult at the start. To be honest, our customers didn’t like change in the sports bar. There was quite a lot of backlash from the locals, but they’ve come around.”
While it took some getting used to, the new Taffy Sports Bar offer has been a big success with new demographics that did not frequent the sports bar area before, including younger adults and women. Thomas has put that down to a couple of tweaks in the offer.
“We’re not seeing people drinking a lot of craft beer anymore. It’s gone back to that mainstream beer. So we’ve had to rearrange our taps and put more taps in to reflect that.
“But we’re getting a lot of younger demographic now coming to watch the sport, and a lot of women who weren’t comfortable in that old sports bar. We get a lot of women in Taffys Sports Bar now, especially when we show women’s sports, like the women’s cricket or women’s NRL.”
With The Winston renovation now having been complete for a few weeks, Thomas is very happy with how it’s been received, and is taking the time to ensure that every aspect is up to scratch.
“We’re just going to taking it slowly, we haven’t been pushing too hard with it. But the feedback has been fantastic for the last two or three weeks, and I’ve been there every night making sure that we can adapt and make the staff come along for the ride. We’ve been very happy with the results so far.”
