The Cat is back with a hat, sporting a shiny new coat, gun chef and all-new outlook on life.
Balmain institution the Cat & Fiddle is a two-storey brick interwar pub on a corner of arterial Darling Street.
After generations of local patronage, the very tired structure and business succumb to the changing gentrified face of the Peninsula and closed its doors late 2018.
A new lease on the Hotel was sold by hospitality consultant Michael Vale to a Sydney businessman, who reportedly “disappeared” soon after, leaving the deal unconsummated.
Earlier this year the opportunity was presented to veteran hotelier Richard Wynne, who subsequently took both the lease and freehold, with a prudent two-year delayed settlement.
“It gives us time to get the value up by way of improving the venue and improving the profitability,” he says.
Taking the keys in June, Wynne was presented with water damage and the results of the building languishing for months after a ‘walk-out’ situation.
The kitchen had to be completely stripped, making way for a modern set-up to cater to the anticipated clientele, including a wood-fired pizza oven as star of the show. The air-conditioning and carpet has been replaced, and Lion agreed to install all beer lines, taps and glycol system.
The old Cat held nine EGMs that Wynne poses “were older than me”. Now all new machines will be joined by another three new entitlements, in a full smoking solution with CRT.
But there is no question that the menu will champion the Cat’s new life, with the pots being rattled by hatted chef Darrell Felstead, formerly of Rozelle’s 3 Weeds, serving “not your ordinary” pub fare, as a specific point of difference.
“We know food’s got to be the hero there, and Darrell is a very good chef who came to us highly recommended.”
Wynne is no stranger to gastro pubs, counting in his 40 years’ experience Sydney’s Brooklyn Hotel and Forbes Hotel, and dragging the Cat from the gutter has become a point of pride.
“Of the good food pubs I’ve done before, this has been by far the most exciting.”
The Cat’s outside-the-box menu, which Felstead describes as value-based trattoria-style Mediterranean, will be served up as the new restaurant officially opens early next week.
After a couple of weeks delay getting finishing touches in order, this week the Cat & Fiddle public bar with bar menu reopened, along with the new gaming room. The TAB will come online over the weekend.
A social media post yesterday suggesting drink specials saw new staff put through their paces as hordes descended for a look at pub-happy Balmain’s newest mistress.
“The anticipation for the pub has been enormous, I think everyone’s looking forward to the new version,” says manager Danielle Simpson.
“The others better watch out – the Cat is Back.”
