Jazz and cocktails combine in new bar

A bar with a difference has come to Nelson, combining jazz and cocktails in an elegant setting.

The new Bamboo Tiger jazz and cocktail bar has taken shape in the Bridge St premises formerly occupied by Drifters bar, Elsewhere and other hospitality businesses.

Bamboo Tiger manager Sameer Galav has made the move from Auckland to Nelson to oversee the bar, owned by Nelsonian Wayne Clark, who now lives in Auckland.

Clark used to own the building 22 years ago and has returned to his roots, Galav said. He also previously owned the nearby building, currently occupied by Malbas bar.

Galav said Bamboo Tiger was Clark’s ‘‘emotional project’’.

‘‘He always wanted to do something in his home town.’’

The target market is 30-plus for ‘‘pre dinner drinks and after dinner drinks’’ with antipasto food on offer. ‘‘Something you can nibble with wine’’.

The interior has been gutted with a completely new look, including red velvet draped on the walls, chandeliers above the bar, a book case at the entry and a stack of rustic suitcases stacked in a corner.

Galav described the decor as ‘‘old school cocktail jazz bar’’. Fans and parasols on the walls give it an oriental flavour.

‘‘Everything is brand new, from kitchen to back bar.’’

The outside paved area out the back will house a tiki bar, due to open in four to six weeks.

Bamboo Tiger officially opened on December 15.

‘‘We got a good response from town. It was more than my expectations as a small town,’’ Galav said.

He said he had had a lot of support from local businesses.

He had been told the bar was in the wrong location, being in ‘‘the roughest street in Nelson’’.

‘‘I believe a diamond is always found in a mine.’’