It was on one of those Jo’burg nights with nothing to do and nowhere to do it that an artist and two filmmakers created Bob’s Bar. ALEX DODD went along to the launch
RESIDENTS of Troyeville and beyond now have good reason to sink a few doubles on the rocks and a new spot in which to do it. They can thank their lucky stars that the new addition to local public life comes not as a multiplex shopping mall, but a real down home and friendly bar.
Although its name has been the subject of passionate debate, and Bob’s Bar is the cue on the grapevine, the nightspot’s actual name is The Fairway Cafe, which is what the venue was known as years back when it was a butchery and then a carpenter’s base.
When the bar actually enjoyed its grand opening is a mystery, for it had a regular trickle of locals popping in to confirm rumours and admire the decor weeks before the paint had dried or the barstools had been upholstered. But on Saturday night one would have been hard pressed to imagine that the venue had ever been home to a hanging selection of dead carcasses — or tree trunks. The place was distinctly alive and buzzing with meetings, greetings and extended drinks orders from the who’s who of Jo’burg fringe culture.
A crowd of recently controversial filmmakers, in and out of work actors, artists (whether you like plastic penises preserved in resin or not), writers (of novels in their spare time), journalists (“Yes, Rwanda … and another double J&B for me”), producers (“Do you sell Gauloise?”) and freelance waitresses with a vision were all happy and eager to be reduced to sardines as the bar got fuller … and fuller … and fuller. After enduring the dearth of possibilities on the Jo’burg nightlife front, few were bemoaning the lack of a barstool. Rather, people were likening the presence of the new spot to water in a desert and saying how nice it would be when summer arrived and the crowd could spill on to the street.
The impetus behind the new local comes from a shared long-term passion of cinematographer Giulio Biccari and curator cum “handyman of the arts” Robert Weinek … although partner Brenda Goldblatt swears it all came out of “one more night of nothing to do in this city … suicide!”
“There are lots of places where you can hang out and drink, but then if you want a decent meal you’ve got to go and find a restaurant,” says Biccari. “We wanted to create something nice and different … to make a place that’s nice to go to and have a drink but where you can also get special fresh breads, nice cheese, good salami …”
Adds Weinek with a cool camaraderie that’s reminiscent of Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas: “Good Italian coffee and cakes. We’ll definitely be offering a real espresso. We’ve even got a real Italian grinding the coffee.”
The cafe’s exterior is well camouflaged amid the run-down buildings that line the higgledy-piggledy streets of Troyeville and party-seekers might cruise right on past the beige building on the corner of Op De Bergen and Browning Streets. But once inside, there’ll be no mistaking the fact that they’ve found a veritable Aladdin’s cave of offbeat bar room goodies with a magnetic combo of rude trinketry and stylish designer fittings.
The friezed ceiling is silver and the walls two-tone: maroon and a particularly South African milkshake green colour that one associates with the bars in Herman Charles Bosman stories. The wooden bar top rests on a Gaudiesque assemblage of concrete, mosaics and coloured glass.
“People keep popping in with presents,” says Biccari. “A lot of artists have contributed to the making of the place. Simon Stone’s coming in to do some mosaics, Wayne Barker’s going to paint the windows, Werner Vermeulen did the resin suns and Brett Murray did the Martini glass light fittings …”
Among chairs scooped up from the second-hand shop circuit are others made by Weinek, featuring metal backs in the shape of beers, milkshakes and flowers, with pink plastic or faux animal skin upholstery.
The bar’s food could have as eclectic an appeal as its decor, with plans for Thai and Vietnamese tapas, but the standard menu will feature pasta, plus a special every night, cooked either by Weinek and Biccari or by a guest chef. The idea is to provide the space and resources for people to live out their culinary fantasies and apparently artist Braam Kruger and art critic Ivor Powell, among others, have some gastronomic adventures planned. “We have an open plan kitchen so you can drink and talk while you cook — just like being in one’s own kitchen at home, but with a guaranteed crowd,” enthuses Biccari.
“Everyone has this fantastic sense of proprietriness over the place already,” says Goldblatt. “For the past eight weeks people have been pulling in all the time.”
To start, the bar will be open nights from five till late and during the day on weekends, but the long-term goal is to keep the doors open 24 hours a day.
Says Biccari: “People seem to really enjoy the fact that there’s something like this happening in Troyeville. Even our insurance man is excited about something like this happening in the neighbourhood.”
940819b THIS IS A FRESH VERSION OF THE ISSUED DATED AUGUST 19 WHICH WAS A DISASTER BECAUSE OF BAD LINE LENGTH.
THE BUSINESS/ARTS/SPORT SECTION FROM THAT WEEK WAS ALSO MESSED UP BUT DUE TO A SYSTEM CRASH I AM STILL TRYING TO RECOVER IT.
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THE WEEKLY e-MAIL INTERNET SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE Issue dated August 19 1994
NEWS AND OPINION SECTION
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