By Vanessa Cavasinni, editor Australian Hotelier
The Cheeky Squire in Frankston and The Lansdowne in Sydney both opened to the public this week.
Owned by ALH and in partnership with Lion and James Squire, The Cheeky Squire in the outer Melbourne suburb of Frankston launched on Thursday. The Cheeky Squire is a reinvention of Daveys Hotel, an ALH venue that was transformed over the last three months with a $1 million renovation, designed by Cayas Architects.
The new venue will offer a range of James Squire and Malt Shovel Brewery beers including limited edition James Squires brews. The design features a copper bar and an illuminated beer bottle feature wall – comprising over 3000 bottles that are lit up to reveal the James Squire logo.
Venue manager Paul Flinn is extremely excited to open The Cheeky Squire’s doors to the Frankston public.
"I have an incredible crew behind the bar, and a kitchen brigade Frankston has never seen. It's going to be great!"
Meanwhile in Sydney, the Lansdowne Hotel has also reopened after having closed in 2015. The famed live music pub was bought by Jake Smyth and Kenny Graham, owners of The Unicorn Hotel in Paddington and Mary’s burger joint in Newtown.
They have renovated the venue, creating a public bar and bistro on the ground floor, and a live music space on the first floor with a capacity for a crowd of 400 people.
Smyth is over the moon to present the venue to the public, which by all accounts will be an emporium of not-so-serious entertainment.
"It’s fun. It’s going to be a fucking fun pub. There’s nothing serious about it. I think with The Unicorn we took a lot on emotionally, because we wanted to create a heritage pub. With the Lansdowne it’s more young adult. It’s all about that joy of being a young adult. It’s all about having fun. We’re stoked.”