ART OF CRAFT

Two English backpackers made good are set to open Tugun’s latest hotspot, writes Denise Raward

THE owners of Tugun’s newest bar and restaurant were just looking for somewhere to enjoy a cold beer and tasty bite after delivering the kids home from kindy on a Friday afternoon.

It planted the seed for Craft House, set to open its doors on Golden Four Drive, when else but a Friday afternoon — August 10 to be exact.

Co-owner Gareth Sharples and his cousin Chris Sharples are new to the hospitality game but are craft beer enthusiasts who’re personally guaranteeing their opening selection of fine brews. “That was the best part, choosing the beers,” Gareth says.

“I don’t want to give too much away but there’ll be 20 craft beers on tap from 15 different breweries and we’ll be continually rotating them so there’ll always be something to try.”

Gareth and Chris came to Australia as British backpackers 14 years ago, intending to stay for six months while they saved for the return leg of their journey.

They lived in Sydney where Gareth worked as a removalist and Chris cleaned carpets. Their savings weren’t going too well so they decided to set up a marketing and advertising business, the work they’d been doing in England. “It took off and we’re both still here,” Gareth says.

They moved to the Gold Coast eight years ago on the run from Sydney property prices and relocated their business Marketing Together to Burleigh Heads.

“We’ve got 60 staff now so Craft House is really our venture into the unknown,” Gareth says. Fortunately they have recruited some dab hands to help them steer the ship. Craft House’s chef is another Englishman, Mark Lloyd, trained in Michelin-star restaurants before coming to Australia in 2001.

He has held head chef positions in some fine Sydney establishments, most recently working for the Merivale group, owned and run by the Hemmes family, before seeing the light and seachanging to the Gold Coast.

“Mark has come up with some great, upmarket tapas and share plate food,” Gareth says.

“He puts a real delicate twist on it. He’s very talented.

“We’ve also got a super bar manager. He creates amazing fancy cocktails — there’s dry ice, there’s candy floss.

“There’s also a fine gin collection and a nice list of boutique and biodiverse wines.”

Chris promises the wine list alone will be worth the visit.

“The name Craft House doesn’t just apply to the beer,” he says. “We’ve been lucky to source wines that you just won’t find in regular places.

“We have a great contact who’s worked previously with The Fish House and then Nineteen at the Star. She’s put us in touch with some specialist suppliers.

“The wines will be organic, preservative-free, not just from Australia but some first-class boutique wines from overseas as well.”

The finishing touches are now being put on the space. Chris says they’re aiming to create a cool, European-style look with vintage and classical touches, yet with a modern twist.

“There’ll be a classic brass footrest for the bar and we’ve gone for the old-fashioned Edisonstyle light bulbs,” Chris says.

“Gareth and I have done a lot of travelling in Europe where you can find these great local bars tucked down laneways where there’s a welcoming vibe, really good food and someone playing live music. We were inspired by that.”

Both cousins live at Currumbin and Chris says they’ve been observing the activation of the neighbourhood bar and foodie scene along the coast for some time.

“We could see Tugun was next in line so we actually bought the building along Golden Four Drive about 12 months ago and then decided we’d create the place we were looking for ourselves,” he says.

“Tugun is a great little spot. There’s people at the higher end of the demographic who choose to live down the southern end, along with the mix of locals looking for a nice venue.

“We’ve kept that in mind with our pricing. We’re going high end with our drinks and food service but it’ll be middle pricing. We want everyone to feel like it’s a place for them.”

Craft House, 1/445 Golden Four Drive, Tugun, opens August 10. Lunch to late every day.