AT LAST! PERFECT PINTS AT THE PUB
YOU know it is different times we are living in when you see a queue outside the spacious Swagman Bar – but these are, indeed, different times. In normal times, the Wine Street bar and restaurant would never require a waiting period, such is the size of the premises, inside and out. Dale Barber of the Swagman even admitted it he was surprised to see a photo on Monday evening which illustrated the line of patrons waiting on a table.
The day of re-opening was a long haul for Dale as he put the finishing touches on weeks of hard work to adapt his outdoor area to safely accomodate as many people as possible. “We started very early. I was here from 8am to get the final preparations done. As a team we put a lot of work in when we knew the date for re-opening – we were calling the marquee guy and looking at grants that were available for outdoor furniture. What we already had, it had to be cleaned, I was powerwashing the furniture for about three days because there was so much moving involved at the same time to make sure we were using the space as best as we could.”
The lack of a time restriction this time around has made a big difference according to Dale who said that people who were limited to 105 minutes last summer could now spend as long as they wished in an outdoor setting.
“We had to say no to a lot of people when there was time restrictions before, it was different because you were working around knowing people will have come and gone within a certain time which suited for the next people coming in. On Monday we had people enjoying a full day out here, they enjoyed a few drinks, got food and there was an overall sense that people were just thankful to be getting out like this again.” Adapting to new guidelines could come at the cost of the energy of a pub which is what first attracted many regular patrons – any fears of this for the Swagman, however, were allayed by the feedback of one particular visitor on Monday.
“At the end of the night, one person on the way out said that even with the guidelines and only being outside, the usual Swagman vibe is still here and that made me feel great. You can only dress up the outdoor area so much, it isn’t very polished, but when he spoke about the vibe, the people, the tunes being played, it just made me feel good about it.”
Dale is delighted that people are enjoying themselves again at the Swagman Bar, patrons are expected to play their part in ensuring guidelines are being followed.
He said that all customers on Monday followed the rules to the letter, but said that orders for last drinks should be limited as everyone must be ready to leave once closing time arrives.
“We do last drinks an hour before closing to make sure tables get their money’s worth because we have 30 tables to get to. You had some groups making orders like eight pints of Guinness for four people and you just knew they weren’t going to finish them in an hour. In some cases you get a table of two ordering six pints between them on last orders and you just have to tell them it’ll be a waste. I don’t want to throw a beer out, I want people having value for their money and I also want to ensure we are doing everything by the rules.”
As for the future – Dale said he is not banking on closing again and is confident he is ready to adapt for any new guidelines which may be issued. He outlined the work involved in opening the business for the first time and the subsequent re-openings that have followed.
He also highlighted how lockdown has impacted on the menus which are usually remarkably varied in their offerings.
“I hope this is the last one. It takes it out of you – it ages you. I have opened four times in 10 years, every time you have to train staff, re-train staff and in the case of the last year, you have to implement Covid guidelines and training and changing menus to avoid waste. We actually reduced the beer menu – we used to have 180 bottles of craft beer, now we have 12 because we sold everything when we knew we were closing last time. The food menu has reduced a lot so that it is a real gastro pub grub menu with burgers, fish, wraps and pizza.”
“We had music five night a week for nine years. I miss it a lot, it is the life and soul of the place. It’s like a pub without the fireplace, I think the live band is similar in that way, it gives the pub a bit of heart and warmth.”