West Village sees new pub group launch

By Vanessa Cavasinni, editor Australian Hotelier

Goodtime Hospitality has launched its first venue, transforming Petersham’s White Cockatoo pub into West Village.

Entrepreneur James Bodel and Locky Paech – formerly a shareholder of The Norfolk and The Forresters hotels in Surry Hills – have opened their first venue, redeveloping the site of Petersham favourite The White Cockatoo.

Having purchased the pub from the Macdonald family in December 2014, Paech and Bodel have a specific idea of what they want from their first venue, as encompassed in the name West Village.

“It’s a bit of a holistic interpretation of what we’re trying to do out here. We’re going to create quite a little village feel and hopefully become a focal point of Petersham,” states Paech.

The pub has been redesigned by Alexander and Co., creating and adding new spaces for patrons to drink and dine in, including an indoor/outdoor courtyard and a sports bar. Using the original structure of the 130-year-old building, the design of West Village includes subtle nods to the building’s history – including the use of original tiles found under floor boards from a previous renovation in the 1970s.

Paech and Bodel looked at other pubs for their first venture as Goodtime Hospitality before deciding on the West Village venue. “We looked at four or five venues seriously, but this venue made a lot of sense as it’s in an up-and-coming suburb and has multiple revenue streams, including gaming, accommodation and a bottleshop. We also wanted to enhance the food and beverage offering,” state Paech.

The pub will feature a modern Australian menu, crafted by chef Sam Thomson, previously from noted Sydney restaurant Catalina. The menu will focus on small and large share plates, mains and salads. There will also be a smaller bar menu that will serve more traditional pub fare, including a burger, curry and sandwich of the day.

West Village will feature a wine menu focused on wines from New South Wales, curated by Andrew Jamieson Wine Merchants. The beverage offering will also include cocktails, Negroni on tap and large selection of craft beer.

Towards the end of the year Goodtime Hospitality will launch Patio, a pub café in the West Village courtyard that will serve breakfast and coffee from 7-11am, as the venue is perfectly situated opposite the Petersham train station.

West Village is open from today to all patrons. It will be the first in what will likely be a multiple venue portfolio from Goodtime Hospitality, who will start looking seriously for a second venue within Sydney shortly.

“This is a long-term partnership between James and myself, and we’d like to have a good mix [of pubs] in different areas and demographics.”