Beloved inner-city Irish pub The Quiet Man, which called last drinks on St Patrick’s Day this year, reopened last week as Auntie Annie’s Hotel.
The Kensington watering hole, located near Flemington Racecourse, opened in 1998, having being designed and built in Dublin before being reassembled in its present position.
New owners James Gallagher and Zenita O’Neill from Zengal Hospitality Group (ZHG) rescued the pub from demolition, saving the site from becoming a $12 million apartment block.
Purchased for an estimated $4.5 million, the original pub had been a home away from home for Gallagher, who spent eight years as chef and venue manager at the Quiet Man following his move to Australia from Ireland in 2003.
O’Neill also had close ties to the original pub.
Now the pair, whose group includes St Kilda’s Jimmy O’Neill’s Irish pub and Prahran cocktail bar Naughty Nancy’s, have restored the venue to its genuine Irish roots with its new name, a new look and a new restaurant.
The old dining room has become the main bar, which, along with a variety of Irish spirits, boasts the only double-barrelled Guiness taps in Australia, pouring two pints simultaneously.
This will cater to the growing demand for Guinness, with the group observing a 200 per cent increase in orders of the Irish stout over the past eight years.
The pub’s restaurant Enbarr derives its name from Irish mythology, and symbolises warmth, elegance and imagination.
It offers modern Irish cuisine, including ‘drunken’ Jameson chicken, a local favourite Gallagher had introduced at the Quiet Man.
Rather than another Irish themed tourist trap, ZHG has ensured Auntie Annie’s is a genuine Irish pub where everyone is welcome.
Enbarr opened Thursday (11 September), and the pub plans live music and ‘craic’ all weekend.
