By Annette Shailer
Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley will unveil its newest venue, x&y bar at 648 Ann Street – a site with a colourful history – this Saturday night (Jul 11).
Owners Peter Eldon, Chris Smith and Eugene Luongo believe x&y bar will fill a void in the market – a bar reminiscent of the old-school days of the Valley.
The building has a dubious past as the Bellino family’s famous Pinocchio’s Restaurant, a haunt for crooked cops and gambling-loving businessmen alike, made notorious in the Fitzgerald Inquiry. There is even a bricked-up escape hole in the back courtyard.
Co-owner Peter Eldon said he and his two partners always held the opinion that the building they chose would direct them on the type of design and fit-out it required.
“The first time we all walked into 648 Ann Street we knew we had to maintain and showcase its history, its integrity and its stories. As a result the look of the bar on ground level is very urban, raw, and industrial even, with graffiti and stencil-art featuring and the walls in the condition we found them,” Eldon said.
“x&y will be a bar of the old school, where there is no judgment of labels, shoe brands or hairstyles. The staff, the patrons and the venue will kick-back, relax and enjoy the company of each other, the way it used to be in the Valley when businessmen, tradies and queens sat alongside each other and there was no judgment.”
x&y has positioned itself as a boutique, live-music venue with two warm-up evenings featuring Brisbane indie bands ‘The Hungry Kids of Hungary’ last night (Jul 9) and ‘Butterfingers’ tonight (Jul 10).