The Cairns Post

Tiki bar sure to raise things to a hula new level

- CHRIS CALCINO

STICKY splashes of rum cocktails will be slung among the bamboo when the boys behind Three Wolves pop the cork on their newest venture.

The Abbott St small-bar specialist­s are breathing life into another hidden nook of the CBD, channellin­g midcentury Polynesian kitsch for aesthetic and atmosphere.

Flamingos Tiki Bar will operate from a basement at the Pacific Hotel on the Esplanade in the long-vacant site of a former bottleshop.

“A modern interpreta­tion of a Polynesian bar, Flamingos Tiki Bar is a tropical oasis hidden beneath street level in the hustle and bustle of the Cairns CBD,” a council developmen­t applicatio­n states.

“The intimate space will be a clean, warm interior with splashes of fun from the tiki gods.

“Tropical prints, neon, palm trees, bamboo and hula girls grace the walls.”

It will be a cosy little operation with a usable floor space of just 46.7sq m and a 35-patron capacity.

The more-with-less ethos is something the budding bar barons take very seriously and has worked at the tucked-away Three Wolves, their sophomore cocktail bar Gin Social and most recently their mobile drink-mixing caravan.

Co-owner Darren Barber said he and Sam Kennis were determined to reactivate an unused pocket of the city and hoped to say “aloha” to their first customers later this year.

 ?? Picture: JUSTIN BRIERTY ?? CHEERS, FELLAS: Three Wolves owners Sam Kennis and Darren Barber are opening a new bar on the Esplanade called Flamingos Tiki Bar.
Picture: JUSTIN BRIERTY CHEERS, FELLAS: Three Wolves owners Sam Kennis and Darren Barber are opening a new bar on the Esplanade called Flamingos Tiki Bar.

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