The recently beached Captain Cook Hotel at Paddington is back in the game at the hands of new owners, with a revised charter and fresh approach.
Built 1914, the four-storey Captain Cook oversees the intersection of Flinders Street and Moore Park Road, across from the former Allianz Stadium and the Sydney Cricket Ground. In recent years it has sustained a name for live music.
The previous operators invested in other business interests in 2017, and subsequent neglect of the Captain brought about foreclosure by the freeholders and receiver sale of the business through Jirsch Sutherland Insolvency Solutions in July 2019.
In September the tenants were shut out, forced to cancel any upcoming gigs and issuing a goodbye through social media.
Beyond its public bar and entertainment area, the pub is equipped with a commercial kitchen and bistro, gaming room with 15 EGMs, and 22 accommodation rooms configured for 100 beds. This was previously leased out in an informal arrangement to a company catering to backpackers.
Enjoying favourable proximity to the sporting grounds and only 2.5 kilometres from the CBD, the Captain has nonetheless suffered due to the ongoing rebuilding of Allianz Stadium, slated for completion in 2022, as well as its location on a corner of two busy roads with limited foot traffic.
The freehold owners have invested in refurbishment and updating of aspects of the building, and now a new lease agreement has been struck through Manenti Quinlan’s Leonard Bongiovanni, taken on by hospitality returnee Robby Moroney.
Having spent time in managerial positions at the likes of North Sydney’s Greenwood Hotel and Paddington’s Royal Hotel, Moroney switched tack to while the past few years in TV production. He returns to hospitality now to take on his own pub venture, with a revised agenda to tackle its previous shortcomings.
The accommodation will continue as pitched to backpackers, deemed the best return for the space without major retrofitting and renovation.
The Maroney name has a long association with foodservice, Robby’s father long operating a catering business that counted clients such as Aristocrat. Into the Captain he brings business partner, chef Tristian Hope (formerly of Hugo’s and Mad Pizza), to rattle the galley.
On the menu will be what is described as contemporary Australian with a European influence, including the ever-popular pizza.
“We want to be approachable … not too specialised,” explains Moroney. “We thought about doing a trendy hotspot, but they don’t appeal to everyone, and there’s a lot of competition in the area.”
In the throes of some finishing touches, the new team plan to set the Captain loose in time for Mardi Gras on 29 February, Sydney’s internationally famous LGBTQI parade, which flaunts its way down Flinders Street and directly past the pub.
A more formal opening party will take place in early March.
