The brothers Thorpe are leveraging their boutique beverage brains trust with expansion into and of AVC’s former Drink n’ Dine pub, The Oxford, at Petersham.
The hyper-expansive Dixon Group snapped up the collection of three venues owner-operated by Jaime Wirth with Drink n’ Dine in late 2016, as one of several wholescale portfolio acquisitions on its road to scale.
Dixon Group changed course with its own subsequent majority acquisition by KKR, and eying a potential public listing began focusing on assets with broader trading and gaming, rather than the boutique trendy ‘dive’ bars fashioned by Wirth, and listed the three leasehold operations in 2018.
After a year and a half consolidating their model since taking on Darlinghurst beer mecca The [Local] Taphouse, including launch last year of wild ale and natural wine haven Odd Culture on the middle-level, brothers James and Josh Thorpe could not resist the opportunity to expand a little more, into brewery heartland, Petersham.
The operation fit with their growth trajectory, pitting them against a market interested in the returns and price-point of leases versus freeholds, says agent for the sale, HTL Property’s Blake Edwards.
“This is the second leasehold pub the Thorpe brothers have purchased off me in as many years, and I wish them all the very best in their new endeavour.”
Beyond rejuvenating the inner-west local’s place in the precinct, the new venue heralds the launch of The Oxford Brewing Racket – what amounts to a test-bed for the creativities of the team’s extensive existing beer and brewing prowess, set to create what are referred to as “ridiculous, commercially-unviable beers” to complement the regular craft menu, with two willing patron bases with whom to share the joy.
“We just want to brew cool stuff,” says James. “It doesn’t really matter if it sells or not, we just want to get involved. It’s going to be really exciting to let that roam free.”
James reports the Oxford has seen success with its flashy new $80k smoker, and he is eager to let the head chef and pit-master loose on some new ideas to liven up the menu.
“Our ultimate aim is to put a small production brewery into the pub, and we really want to utilise the smoker with that as well … smoke some dark beers, some malts, the possibilities are endless.”
The Brewing Racket sets forth with its first creation – a collaboration with Capital, based in Canberra, called ‘Hi-Vis’ NEIPA with mango and turmeric, which will be launched on Australia Day at The Oxford.
The day prior, 25 January, the new owners are having a ‘Drain the Swamp’ party offering $5 cans and schooners of “pretty much everything onsite”, to clear space for the buckets of beers they plan to bring into the repertoire.
Taking the keys today, James was onsite at 6am, planning for the short-term reopening on 21 January. They will spend some time getting to know the area and seeding relationships before a significant tweak to the venue and offerings, and “hyper-local” focus on breweries and distilleries.
“The Oxford Tavern has been one of our favourite Inner West venues for a long time. The pub has a rich and colourful history in the area, and whilst we will be refreshing certain elements, it is really important to us that the pub retains its incredible charm.”
