Recently opened at the west end of Hay Street, Pure is already attracting quite a following.
Recently opened at the west end of Hay Street, Pure is already attracting quite a following.
The small bar is popular with the early morning coffee crowd, business types out for lunch, and even those who fancy sipping on cocktails as the summer sun sets late in the evening.
The minimalist bar has been open for about six weeks and the concept and design is simple – a sleek, white bar, some tall white tables, black bar stools and a kitchen serving uncomplicated dishes using fresh, locally sourced produce.
But getting the small bar licence – the first in Subiaco – was anything but simple.
It took Pure Bar’s owners, Mark Daley, Michael Cutler and Steve Colling, almost six months to secure the relevant approvals.
And even then, the approval comes with complications.
While the liquor licensing laws were overhauled to help facilitate the likes of Pure opening up across Perth, the City of Subiaco has added a few extra conditions of its own.
The local authority will only allow the business to cater to 80 patrons, although the laws stipulate a small bar can have a maximum capacity of 120 people.
The city has also banned Pure from serving customers alcohol from the groovy white bench that adjoins the exterior of a low wall, linking the alfresco area with the bar indoors.
This is because the city has enacted a policy that bans small bars serving alcohol without also serving a meal in alfresco areas.
The same situation exists in the City of Fremantle, where the Essex St Organic Wine Bar can’t serve patrons a glass of wine while they are seated in the alfresco area, even though they are free to do so at a table inside.
Council regulations also prevent more than two licensed venues opening up within 100 metres of each other if they cater for more than 40 people.
Rather than “rant and rave” about the difficulties he and his partners have faced, Mr Daley says he is excited about the new venture. He left a marketing career to join Mr Cutler and Mr Colling in establishing Pure, located on the former Café Cibo site close to the corner of Townsend and Hay streets.
“It is about keeping it simple,” Mr Daley says. “It’s white, it’s clean, we roast our own coffee, all the produce comes from local suppliers and we have a range of organic and free range products.”
Messrs Cutler and Colling have a long history in Perth’s hospitality scene.
Mr Cutler has owned Vultures in Northbridge, while Mr Colling owned World Gourmet Pizza in Mount Lawley and, many years ago, the pair previously ran The Jackal nightclub.
The trio wanted to create a small space to enjoy good food, good beverages and good company, and were attracted to Subiaco in part because of the big footy crowds that descend on the municipality each weekend.
“There are 45,000 people coming here each weekend,” Mr Daley says.
The big 120-centimetre plasma fixed to one hall is an indication that sport will be prominent on the weekend.
But it is also something the bar is pitching to the corporate market, for use in PowerPoint presentations and business meetings.
The corporate market is also catered to for breakfast and lunch, with the bar functioning more like a restaurant, before slipping into a great after-work drinks venue or a spot to grab some dinner.
The menu ranges from nibbles to something “a little more”, which includes coconut prawns and a char-grilled 250-gram sirloin steak sandwich. There is also a range of salads and something more substantial, including the 400g grain fed rib-eye steak and the free-range chicken breast served with a basil, lemon parmesan crust.
The breakfast menu is also extensive, ranging from a breakfast toastie, to cinnamon poached pear on toasted fruit bread with ricotta and strawberries, to the big breakfast with the lot.
But Pure is more than just a restaurant.
Joining the kitchen line-up is a simple cocktail menu that consists of popular mixes – cosmopolitan and mojito as well as “pimp my bubbly” (a mix of pimms, cointreau, mint topped with French bubbles) and an espresso martini (a mix of vodka, kahlua, espresso liqueur, crème de cacao plus an espresso shot all shaken with a dash of mint sugar syrup).
The shot of espresso comes from Pure’s own roaster, with the bar roasting its own coffee on site.
Pure also has a well structured yet simple wine list featuring crowd pleasers such as Vasse Felix classic dry white, McHenry Hohnen’s 3 Amigos white, Lenton Brae cabernet merlot and semillon sauvignon blanc, a range of wines from South Australia, Victoria, New Zealand, and a Castano Monastrell Rose from Spain.
