Shaken and stirred by cocktail bar
THE Victorian restaurant in Birmingham’s Great Western Arcade is being transformed into a glamorous cocktail bar and restaurant. The new Pineapple Club is described as “contemporary, Art Deco-inspired” and will serve an “exciting range of cocktails”.
It will take over the first-floor premises of the Victorian, which closed in December.
The swanky replacement is the brainchild of Sam Boulton, owner of award-winning Jewellery Quarter bar The Vanguard.
The Vanguard, which specialised in mead – one of the world’s oldest alcoholic drinks, will not be reopening following lockdown.
Sam is now focusing on getting The Pineapple Club ready for an autumn opening. He said: “I’ve been looking to expand from The Vanguard for a while. We found the Great Western Arcade site and were in negotiations just before lockdown hit.
“I’ve already spent more on this place then I ever did on The Vanguard! It’s very sad I won’t be reopening there but I felt it was time to take the next step up.
“With this city centre location we’ll be competing with a lot of places so I’ve made the interior of The Pineapple Club as much a priority as the food and drink.”
Sam acknowledges the timing isn’t exactly ideal.
“It is tough for hospitality at the best of times. I’m very confident of being able to offer something special to Birmingham that will also be very safe. As well as giving table service,
Cafe. At least “founder member” Tabetha – a Maine Coon cat that is the largest breed of domesticated moggie – is still living in the cafe and pulling in fans.
“Luckily we are destination attraction where people come to seek us out to see cats like Tabetha,” says Kate.
“It’s difficult to know if closing the escalator that comes up to us has been having an influence on our business, or if it’s just because the railways have been so quiet anyway and that we are at a railway station.
“That’s a difficult one to know but our Grand Central business is down more than our cafes in Leeds and the first one we opened in Nottingham – which can be seen from the main public square is on the tourist trail up to the castle.
“It’s a real blow to lose John Lewis – that’s a massive hit (for Birmingham). It’s a footfall driver and I really feel for the staff and it makes you question the future of shopping centres. Outside of coronavirus, that’s a really difficult situation (for landlord Hammerson / Grand Central).
“We are busy enough and happy – I think a lot of businesses were thinking that (lockdown) was we are making changes to the layout to ensure good social distancing.”
The Pineapple Club will showcase an array of cocktails as well as small plate dishes from chef Santi Plazas, who previously worked at Spanish restaurant El Borracho Del Oro in Edgbaston.
Sam said: “Santi is from Columbia but also has experience of Italian cuisine. People can expect some delicious small plates to complement their drinks.”
Pineapple Club cocktails will include classics as well as signature offerings such as The Biscayne Blue – a blend of Bombay Sapphire Gin, Original English mead, elderflower and botanical cordial. The ground floor area will be a ‘Beer Boutique’, selling ales, spirits, liqueurs and mead.
going to be a short term thing, but I think the safety measures we now see will be longer term and something that stays with us.
“It feels like we are now in some kind of weird middle ground (between lockdown and normality).”
While the colony of cats does not have a rapid turnover and Tabetha remains a star attraction, the charity does rehome some of its furry friends. In the meantime, there are two new kittens in residence who are currently being socialised and whose names will be chosen by members of the public.
Like all new arrivals, they are gently introduced into the way of doing things in terms of meeting not only the colony they will become a part of but also finding their way around the cafe. Only when everything has been sorted back of house where the litter trays are kept will the kittens be encouraged to mingle with cafe customers.
Kate adds: “We usually find it’s the weight of a cat that determines when it’s ready more than its specific age. Once a cat reaches 1kg in weight (2.2lbs), that’s when it is ready to usually hold its own.”
How the new Pineapple Club in Great Western Arcade will look