Pipe dream reality for pub owners
Craft brewers take over the Anann Pineapple Pub
Anann Pineapple Pub owners Leigh Bartosh and Miriam Canty are about to tap out. This weekend is the last they will be serving food and drinks as they hand over the pumps to the owners of Pukehina craft brewery Lumberjack Brewing.
A bar since the late 1990s, Leigh and Miriam took over what was Imbargo a little over six years ago with big plans — plans they have largely seen through.
They had both been in the hospitality business for over 20 years without owning their own place.
“When we came along we kept the pokie machines originally, but then we got rid of them to focus on our idea of hospitality and the food and beverage side of things more than anything else,” says Miriam.
“It was very dark and closed in — it didn’t have the light it has now and by painting it yellow we brightened it up quite a bit,” says Leigh.
The bar’s new name, Anann, as much as anything else was indicative of the changes being made. Anann is the Irish word for pineapple, a symbol for hospitality.
“I missed the Irish pubs at home and that welcoming feel, so we wanted to have something Irish without being an Irish pub,” says Miriam.
“Irish pubs [in Ireland] are so warm and welcoming. You go in them and within five minutes you’ve got new friends and that’s what we wanted to create,” says Leigh.
Introducing craft beers and freshly prepared and produced food was going away from the norm at the time.
“We wanted to really show what could be done and I think it was a bit of a shock for some people,” says Leigh.
They have built up the number of beer taps to six.
“We’ve trained a lot of people. There are so many people now who drink craft beer and that’s right across the industry.
“There are better flavours, more range, more localisation.”
When they heard there was a craft brewery operating in Pukehina, they got in touch with the owners and started stocking the Lumberjack beers. The eventual result was that Lumberjack produced the Anann Pilsner.
“Lumberjack in a way has helped us grow because we’ve had beer from them and we’ve helped them grow by giving them their first full-time tap so we’ve always had a really good relationship so it was good that they were looking to expand while we were looking to move on,” says Miriam. “A lot of our regulars know the lads from Lumberjack so it’s not going to be a huge transition for a lot of people.”
Ian O’malley, one of the owners of Lumberjack Brewing, says expanding into a bar was always part of the plan.
“They were the first bar to take us on at the very beginning and give us our first full-time tap, so it sort of was a no-brainer to be able to continue what they’ve started in Te Puke and hopefully do as good a job as they have.”
The bar will be renamed the Lumberjack Brewing Bar.
“We’ll be changing the taps over and going to full Lumberjack beer, otherwise we’ll keep it as it is,” he says.
The bar may be closed for a few days for the changeover before a soft opening and then a bigger reopening event.
“It is a huge step up but we’ve got some people on board with a lot of experience in hospo as well so it will be good,” says Ian.
The whole process began when Miriam was idly looking at houses for sale in Ireland and spotted her former art teacher’s home was on the market.
That started a pipe dream that eventually became a reality, and the couple and their two children will move to Ireland early next year.
“We thought, it’s not a silly idea to do it if we can have less debt and be where my family are and it gives our kids a chance to build relationships with their family over there,” she says.
Their final night in the bar will be Saturday.