Taran James: From Crystal Shop to Bar Owner

About This Episode

In this episode of Behind the Bar, I sit down with Taran James — the owner and operator of Raven Spur, a classic cocktail bar in Newtown. Taran's path to bar ownership is anything but conventional: from electrician to crystal shop owner to building one of the Inner West's most distinctive venues. We talk about the realities of opening a bar with zero hospitality experience, the parallels between reading crystals and reading customers, and why clear ice is the only hill worth dying on.

Key Topics

• Unconventional Path: From electrician to crystal shop owner to cocktail bar proprietor — with zero hospitality experience.
• The Build: Five and a half months, seven days a week, transforming an old laundromat into Raven Spur.
• No Clout, No Problem: The struggle of setting up a venue when reps won't return your calls.
• Adult Daycare: Taran's biggest realisation about running a bar — and the barn door incident from week one.
• Clear Ice Champion: An impassioned defence of clear ice and why well ice in an Old Fashioned is a crime.
• Fragile Masculinity: The art piece in the bathroom and why Taran put it there.
• Service Philosophy: Why guest experience matters more than the drink, and what Taran learned from Fortunate Son.
• Future Plans: Live music, tattoo flash days, and building community at Raven Spur.

Full Transcript

Ronan: Where did where did Taran James start his start his life?

Taran: So, um, born on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, moved down here. I would have been early 20s, maybe 23. Yeah, 23, 24. Came down for a 3-day holiday, never went home. Had to call my family, call my work, and be like, "Hey, I'm not coming back." And then that was it. And I've been down ever since. So, lived all over Sydney as well. So, it's been good. and then landed here in

Ronan: The inner west about 8 years ago now. So,

Taran: Yeah. Nice. You called New Town home um Ever since.

Taran: Yeah. Yeah. Well, it's just it's it's moving around the area. It's the only like in Sydney, it's the only place that's felt like it's had that community vibe, you know, where everyone it's like a tight community where everyone kind of knows each other, but everyone's also accepting of everyone as well. Yeah. So, it was good moving in cuz I didn't know how it was going to go with if it was going to be clicky or not in one of those kind of situations. But, no, it's been really fun. I love it here. Yeah.

Ronan: And uh you had a back So, your first job was an electrician.

Taran: No. So, I've had many many jobs um throughout like life, but the I guess the second most recent was an electrician. So before this, I owned another shop up further up on King Street in New Town that was like a crystal and tarot and oracle shop that I built uh during co between the lockdowns and then ran that for quite a few years and then sold that and then I've always wanted to do a bar and then it just came about that you know I had the coin to do it from the sale of the last business so I sunk everything into this and then built it. Yeah.

Ronan: That's so crazy. Yeah. Never been never been done before. Sold a crystal shop to open up a bar.

Taran: Yeah. Yeah. It's the um it's such a such a good story. You need to tell everybody that. Yeah. It's I know. I think people think

Ronan: I'm a bit insane for doing it. It's all, you know, and having zero hospital experience is the thing where people are like, "What is wrong with you? Why would you want to get into it?" So, but it's been I mean, it's been a wild ride so far, but I've loved it. Yeah.

Taran: Yeah. It's almost like you've got a

Ronan: Little bit of like an entrepreneurial mind state as well behind you like after Yeah. after the crystal shop in this like it's

Taran: Yeah, definitely. I love I love I mean I love people but I love business and you know anything and this is such a creative environment you know in terms of drinks and it's that good mix of creativity and you know guest experience and being able to just essentially just talk rubbish with people and make drinks. So it's good fun. Have you got any stories to tell that kind of stick out where you're like I'm in deep waters that are Yeah. I don't know. Yeah. I would say generally realizing and again not coming from it and now realizing that with all hospital specifically though like bars is that you're just running an adult daycare. So that's what was like it's been the biggest like realization. But I did I think it was like the first week and in the bathrooms I've got um barn doors, sliding barn doors and someone was in there clearly pissed and instead of sliding the door forced the whole thing off the rail and then like tore out the whole track that like at the base and I think that was week that was week one week one or week two and I was like okay this is like this is this is what I'm in for now. So that happened and then it's just been those kind of other things that I've realized and just managing having to manage people drinking you know like instead of being on the other side of the bar all the time now being in there and having to Actually

Taran: Monitor and look after people right and Then

Taran: Absolutely and the venue and the team as well and make sure everything's running well. Yeah. Did you have any uh you would have had some hospitality connections coming into coming into it or you had no hospitality connections at all? No. So my only real hospitality connections were my friends that owned venues or worked in venues. So it was bartender friends and then a few friends that um owned a few places. Beyond that I didn't really have anyone else which which proved to be quite a struggle. And and there's that thing of like not I always say like not having any clout in the industry and being green was a real hard slog setting up the whole place because I couldn't get meetings with reps like you know I was no one to them which is fair but also now we're you know getting momentum and now everyone's coming out of the woodwork kind of thing and and sniffing around so it's just interesting but yeah it was it was definitely a tough a tough go without um any hospital. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. For anybody watching wants to open up

Ronan: Their own bar, maybe some overrated and underrated purchases, I know off camera we were talking about uh the fridges, ice machine, and stuff were actually all uh like a rental agreement.

Taran: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Um which is a [ __ ] fantastic idea. Yeah.

Ronan: Is there any other is there any other purchases that you were like uh overrated or underrated that like advice that you'd give out? I think

Taran: If you have the money to do everything I mean I want to say do it but also like I built this place on a shoestring budget again. Yeah. the fridges and freezers, like that kind of stuff. I was like, new and if that breaks down, you kind of you're in a bit of strife, you know, cuz that's the thing that kind of keeps you going. Beyond that, I the back bar in terms of booze and again, you've got to like I had to pay for that outright. So, that was that was probably beyond building my biggest expense, having to, you know, line an entire bar of of full juice. And it was that thing where people like, "Oh, you can just put a few on the back bar." And I was like, "No, you can't." You open, you know, you open a new venue and you've got a few bottles sitting there. It just didn't look good. So that that's definitely like a I mean, I think that's a must is with a new venue is having a full stocked back bar. What I wouldn't I'm trying to think what I wouldn't kind of spend on again. Um I don't know. I've kept it pretty like I've probably kept it pretty minimal. I think chairs are another thing to to spend a bit of coin on. You don't have to go crazy. These are actually from Bunnings Marketplace. Um, but in saying that, I think if I spend a bit more coin, I feel like already seeing them over for the couple of months, the longevity of the chairs would be a would definitely be a a different purchase. I probably would just put more money into the into the chairs. It makes sense, right? I mean, the more comfy the chair is, the longer you're going to have people sitting in it for Well, that's that's it, right? If you're comfy, you're going to you are going to sit there longer. So, and that's why I wanted back rests and and comfy uh comfy like uh padded cushions on there as well. So, and everyone seems happy with them. Yeah. Like what's the identity of Ravensburg To you?

Taran: It's It's funny cuz when I first like set out to do it, I love bourbon. I love rye. I love drinking old fashions. And I was like, I'm going to be this oldfashioned bar, you know, and I'm going to just be slinging bourbon and rye and nothing else. And then very quickly realized that's just not a reality because not a lot of pe, you know, people do like it, but not everyone wants to drink that. And I had one rep who's become quite a good friend and he said, "The most you'll do is vodka and tequila." And sure enough, when I looked at the numbers, that's what it was. It was vodka and tequila. But I don't I tell people that we're like a a whiskey bar, but we don't market it like that. Yeah. We're just a classic cocktail bar. So, and I like focusing on the classics as well. So, I feel like in the industry and from drinking so much and going to all these bars, I feel like we've gotten away from the classics, it's all these overproduced cocktails where I I wanted to kind of dial it back and just do really good solid classics. Um, so we're kind of, I guess, more now known for just being a classic cocktail bar with my aesthetic, which is what I wanted, which was a southern gothic, you know, kind of brooding country, um, venue like this, but we just, you know, but still felt warm. Yeah. Where anyone's welcome as well and you can kind of get any drink you want, which was my other thing. I didn't want to be pigeonholed into just one specific spirit or or type of cocktail. Yeah. And it's it's working. It's we're now known. So again, that's why I don't try to like push it as much. I'll tell people, you know, we have a great selection of bourbon and rye. That's where your passion is really Like.

Taran: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But and yeah, my passion is bourbon and rye and people and and guest experience as well. So that's probably more at the forefront. I love dealing with people. So I'll make you any drink you want or I'll try and get as close as I can to it. If we don't have what what it is, I'll try and get as close as I can to making that drink for you. So yeah, can you talk a little about a little bit

Ronan: About running a crystal shop? Um I know absolutely nothing about it. I know nothing about crystal I've never walked into a crystal shop in my life, but I'd love to I'd love to hear what it's like from someone who's done it before.

Taran: Yeah. So it was a wild time obviously with co um my then partner was into it. So we started an online business. I was made redundant as a electrician. um that grew and grew and grew online quite quite quite largely. Um, and then yeah, we opened the shop between the two lockdowns in Sydney and it was nuts and it it was that was a wild ride as well because I I didn't really know anything about crystals and tarot and all that kind, you know, I knew kind of little bits and pieces I feel like that everyone knows, you know, here and there. And um,

Taran: It was this wild thing of like I was a therapist, which pro probably wears on you a lot. You're like a free therapist every single day and you're trapped because people are coming to you. And I loved it. Not just I didn't love everyone that came in, but it becomes a lot. You know, people are coming in with quite serious problems and issues and then you're having to try and fix it with a stone that's, you know, not to take anything away from it, of course. I like I did it for years, but it was it was hard. like it was it was pretty rough sometimes, you know, you you're you're taking on a lot of what people are going through as well. Yeah. Whereas this feels I feel like I'm still that's the whole

Ronan: Thing of being a bartender.

Taran: I was just about to say there's a few Parallels in that. Uh

Taran: Yeah, definitely. You're still a

Ronan: Therapist, but everyone's a lot more lubricated on the other side. So, so it's a it's a bit of a smoother kind of

Taran: Slightly less intense. Yeah, definitely. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, wow. Cool. Um, how do you go about

Ronan: Uh recommending a crystal to someone? Is there certain crystals that are known for I don't know to fix certain things or

Taran: Yeah. like different attributes and

Ronan: Things like that? Yeah. So, I came from a scientific background as well. So, it was quite a hard pill to swallow in the beginning like with crystal and it was like crystals and um uh astrology and and all of that kind of stuff. Um, and then then then I would look into the science of it where it's and the whole thing of everything's got, you know, I guess like physical energy and vibrations and things like that, like frequencies, I should say. Everyone everything's got it when and it's all measurable and like a tangible thing. So, it would be someone would come in for a specific issue or or something like that. Uh, and then you would, it's almost like prescribing what stone you think would be good for them. Um, did it always work? I mean, it's like I I think it's like anything, you have to believe it's going to work. And the the big I guess takeaway is if you if you believe that something's going to be good for you generally generally I say you know it is and I would I would kind of say it to the in the sense of like if I got a river stone you know went to the river picked a stone out and then you came in and said I want to be happier in my life and I just had this river stone and gave it to you and said well this is take this this is going to make you happier and you trust in what I'm saying and then you believe it generally you're going to be happier right because your brain chemicals are going to rewire and adjust and then you're going to actually start feeling it so there's that kind of level as well you know the um was it the psychosmatic kind of thing and and I hate to use the word placebo but

Taran: I didn't want to say it but but it's a but it's a real thing right if you if you believe it if you believe it to be true then who's to It's not like in that kind of sense, you know, for for how you're feeling in your emotions and things like that. So yeah, I mean I'm a huge advocate for like anything that will change the your perspective on the way you see the world for the better. So if that means if that means a crystal or a stone, then why the [ __ ] not? Yeah, exactly. It's not hurting anyone. So that's what I'm all about as it's like go for it then. Yeah. That's super interesting. Oh yeah, it's a and it's a quite a rabbit hole when you start getting into it. So yeah, there's a lot in there. Wow. Yeah. Wow. Have you got any advice for

Ronan: Yourself? If you were to go back in time and redo the opening of this place, what would you what would you tell uh past past Taran?

Taran: Uh probably don't do it. No doubt. I would probably um What would I tell myself? probably to be like more easy on myself because I was re I was actually quite brutal like mentally in here with myself and the whole build and I did 98% of it myself on like and on my own plastic covering the windows dark in here and just grinding I'd probably take more honestly probably more self-care I'd be like you need to take more time out because I was go go I've got to get it done and And then even after the build, I went straight into service. There was no break. It was the day we opened and did the launch, I was still doing finishes in here, you know, finishing bits and pieces, putting hooks on walls, painting the barrels for the front and things like that. So, it' probably be time, take more time and just or maybe enjoy it more as well cuz I just was build build, you know, I wasn't even thinking about, oh, this is fun. I was like, I've got to get this place open. So, it would have been taking more time and probably ask honestly asking for help more, which I'm notoriously, which anyone who knows me knows I won't do. I will just suffer. Not in silence. I will suffer out loud, but I will still suffer, but I won't ask for help. So, there's definitely asking for more help at the beginning, especially. Yeah. And then from first day of build to your

Ronan: Open day, what what time what time period was it? Five and a about five and a half months. So yeah. Yeah.

Taran: That's wild. Yeah. So 5 and a half months. Um anywhere from 5 to 7 days a week every single week. Like I I pretty much didn't take time off in the build. Um just it was just and it was like big hours every day to just get it done. This was a massive job. This place was

Ronan: What was it before? It was an old laundromat and it was a nightmare. Um the roof I

Taran: Had to rip the ceiling out. how to rip the floor up like it was a just a it was in a bad state about the guitar Behind you.

Taran: Yeah, this is my personal um Ibanz that I just wasn't playing enough either. So I was like and it was like the perfect like piece to put on the wall. So I brought that in. I now wish I actually still had it at home cuz I was like now now that I've like it's settled a little bit in here and I'm not go go go go every day. I'm like, I could actually get back to playing a little bit. So, that would be nice. And then, um, in terms of everything else on the wall, you there's like a lot of artwork that's either friends or I've got a lot of, um, I guess like musical like inspiration and things like that. The bathrooms have the most. There's a lot of that's pretty predominantly just all music that I listen to in terms of the artist in frames in there. Um, this piece was actually my schoolmate who is a tattoo artist. He actually tattooed my neck and hands um quite a few years ago now. And he he that's like one of his original prints. And then there's just yeah bits and pieces. Taxiderermy on the walls. Uh cowboy hats again just things I wanted to put in here that represented me and like my aesthetic as well. And that's that was like my biggest thing even starting out the whole like inception of the venue before I had any real idea. The only thing I knew was whether I wanted a cathedral looking back bar. And then the only other thing I saw was taxiderermy and vintage frames and cowboy hats on the walls. That's the only thing I had to go off when I started building. And then it just it it it evolved as I was building. I had no clear plan. It was like week by week, day by day, week by week, it just evolved into like what it is now.

Ronan: And uh how does one get their hands on a taxiderermy?

Taran: So dear. So there's the antique shops. There's there's all you know that kind vintage shops and things like that. One of them I went down with my fiance to Melbourne and um we had a few drinks at a bar and there was a a massive antique shop across the road. cruised in there, found the ram that's um on the wall at the front and carried it back like put it in the in the Uber, took it back and then brought it back on the flight. Um yeah, otherwise it's just those kind of places. Yeah. And then the Texas Longhorns um I had brought down from the Sunshine Coast. There's actually a place up there that I know and they happen to have the Texas Longhorns which is what's one of my favorite things in the bar.

Ronan: Definitely catches your eye. But yeah, it's good fun.

Taran: A general idea that you've always wanted

Ronan: To open a bar, but but apart from that, is there any underlying um

Taran: Yeah. Any other any underlying reason? I mean, I love drinking and I which is funny cuz I feel like I drink, which is a good thing, but I drink less now that I've got the bar. Um, but I wanted and I had always said I wanted a place where I would want to drink. That was that was kind of I guess why I wanted to open a venue. I was like, why maybe like why doesn't a place like this exist, this kind of dark country? I mean, cuz it's it's it's it's interesting because I've I've loved this, you know, style and music for so many years and it's it's quite trendy now. So, it's just interesting that it's it hadn't been done. So, I was I was like, well, I'll just build it. Why don't I build what what doesn't exist, you know, and build for myself as opposed to build for what I feel everyone wants was the other thing. I'll build it and if people like it, then awesome. Welcome. Come and enjoy and drink whiskey, right?

Ronan: What have you got? Have you got any

Taran: Long-term plans for Raven Spur? Say like two, three years down the line. Yeah. So, kicking off next year, music would be like live music is the is the plan moving forward. Um, and then we're working on a tattoo flash day as well. So, opening up earlier and having a couple of tattoo artists in here, maybe less drinking on that day. Um, but yeah, just just doing more fun bits and pieces in here, kind of community based stuff and just ramping up the fun really. So, I mean, it's kind of I feel like it's what we're known for. One of our like number one drinks is a pickleback. So, Oh, unreal. I love pickleback. Yeah, me too. So, it's we've got that, you know, for being a table service um heavy guest experience venue. I feel like we're still known for being quite a fun venue as well, you know, like we we we kind of don't I don't think anyone in here takes themselves too seriously. So, we're just here to have a good time and serve good drinks and have a good laugh. A uh tattoo flash day is such a crazy

Ronan: Idea. Has it been Has that been done before?

Taran: Yeah, I think there's a few places that

Ronan: Have done it. Um I don't know about in such a tight

Taran: Like cocktail bar. Um but it's it's people have done bits and

Ronan: Pieces. I actually just went to a wedding and they had a tattoo artist. We was at a brewery and they had a tattoo artist there. say which was really fun. Um I don't think it's like a re I think people are concerned or think that they can't do it because of the licensing and things like that. So I was talking to the tattoo artist on the weekend and um he had said it's actually costwise and and in terms of the difficulty of getting the licenses for an event, he say it's actually not that hard, not that expensive and not that hard to do. So let's do it. And then if that becomes maybe a, you know, semi-regular thing because we're, for the first one, we're going to do like Raven Spur Flash.

Taran: So it'll be all that kind of, you know,

Ronan: Southern gothic flash sheets that each artist can kind of do their own do their own sheets.

Taran: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So that that'll Yeah, that'll be in the new year. And then again, yeah, live music is another big thing that we want in here. So yeah, man, I can't wait for that. I'm definitely So I think there's a again a big disconnect with um within the industry that the kind of owner operator has been on the back burner and these like larger groups have been all consuming and there seems to the the teams are great, but there feels like there's a lot of like soulless movement going on and it's just like venue after venue after venue is opening and it just doesn't feel as authentic, you know? It's what can we open and churn the most coin. And I get I totally get like I'm here to run a business. Like at the end of the day, this is my business and I've invested a lot of coin into this myself and this has to do well for me. But I'm here all the time, you know, running everything. I'm hands on. I'm in here and I feel like we need more of that as well. So, there's that. And, you know, my the and another reason I wanted a bar specifically like this in terms of service was one of my favorite bars, which I'll give a shout out to, is Fortunate Son. So Dylan with Fortunate Son and the Palamino, but specifically Fortunate Son, I remember going in and just being like,

Ronan: "This is what I want. This this service, you know, you you feel welcome no matter who you are at any time. You're just always welcome in there." And I I just love that. So I wanted to kind of replicate his his what he does in there here. And I feel like I've done that. It's like I feel like I harp on about it heaps as well. Even to the team, it's guest experience. That person sitting across from you, they're coming in and and again building being an owner operator. I'm like I'm it feels like I'm like come into my house, let me make you a drink. So when that disconnect's there across the bar and that and you know and you're kind of getting nothing from the person who's like serving you like at the end of the day we're there to serve the guest. You know what what what can I do for you? It's not this other way around where you should feel which again and I I use the word because I can't stand it but mixologists where I feel like they're like you should feel privileged that I'm making you a drink. No,

Taran: It's not going to get you very far. That's but it seems to but I'm I don't and I don't like it. I'm like I don't want to I have this thing where I've always said if you um if you go somewhere with great service and an okay drink, not the best drink you ever had, but an okay drink, you'll always go back because of the service. You can have the best drink you've ever had in your life and have terrible service. You'll never go. I personally I'll never go back. Yeah. I don't think because of that service, right? I don't care how good that drink is. Why would I come back? There's no there's no connection with the person on the other side of the bar. I want to You want to feel like you're friends in a way or you know there's this the tiny even the tiniest of like connection there and it's gone. Yeah. I forgot where I heard it but um you're the best bartender if you properly. So coming from having no experience, it's behind the bar. People I know making cocktails. I don't know. I didn't What I learned really quickly was that it's recipes, you know. Oh yeah. And the menu that's that has been built that I I mean I created 98% of the drinks on the menu. That wasn't the hard thing. I mean, for me, the people was there, but I was like, "This is and people would come in. I had people that had no experience as well, and they were stressed out about, and I was like, but here's a recipe card. All you have to do is follow that recipe. But if you smile the person across from the bar while you're doing it, then your job's done." Because the cocktails aren't hard, the Yeah. the the human interaction is the hard thing. And like I was saying earlier, like off camera, you can't teach that. No, you've either got it or you don't have It. So,

Taran: That was like that's been a huge thing In here. Yeah.

Taran: So, um here we go. So, you can only drink one type of

Ronan: Whiskey for the rest of your life.

Taran: Yep. Uh you've got Canadian. All right. Uh Canadian or Irish? Canadian. Canadian or bourbon?

Taran: Bourbon. Bourbon or scotch? Bourbon. Uh, bourbon or rye? Rye. Yeah. And uh, rye or Australian? Rye. Your favorite? Well, you can you can have Australian rye. There's a There's a very good Australian

Ronan: Rye that I actually love drinking. Um,

Taran: Gospel. Yeah. Yeah, tasty stuff. It's It's great. The whole range. I've

Ronan: Actually got some um some really nice stuff on the back bar from um from the guys at Gospel.

Taran: Gosh. Well, then 36 South is in there as well. So,

Taran: Again, great drop. But yeah, there's a lot of great Aussie stuff coming out. I' I've I'm always a bourbon drinker. I've always been bourbon and rum as a Queenslander, of course. Yeah. Um, but the rise again now that I've expanding expanding my pallet more and more and being here I'm like the rye just there's something about rye that just does it for me. So and Australian rye is is great. Australian um whiskey Australian Australian Australian everything. Australian everything. Australian f. There you go. An all Australian whiskey Sour.

Taran: Oh yeah. Yeah. Aussie. Aussie. Oh, the [ __ ]

Ronan: Aussie lemons made by Queensland. There you go. Have you ever thought about doing uh like hospital training similar to what Dylan does down the road? Hospital trainings in here. Not hospital trainings, but like I don't know, hosting hosting trainings

Taran: Like me doing it. Uh well, having guests having guests in Here.

Taran: Yeah. Yeah. I'm totally open to anything in here as well, like that kind of workshops and things like that. We did have for the team Just before we opened, we actually had um Jason Cwley come in and do a training and and it's I thought it was going to be more about the drinks, but it actually was a lot about service, which was great. He's a well like Dylan.

Ronan: I mean, it's those, you know, it was those two that did fortunate at the beginning.

Taran: Just a wealth of knowledge. Um so definitely I would definitely do trainings and things like that in here for sure. Yeah, that's why Jordan and I work. I [ __ ] love this guy. That's why I like working with him though. and we're like real with each other and I only have a very very few This is going to be horribly edited cuz it's just going to be me just ranting. But but honestly, there's and this like to you just to let you know there's only very few people that I actually have time for rep like repw wise and stuff in this industry. He's one of them. One of the only others is Jeremy. I don't even know Vanguard luxury brands like they gospel and [ __ ] four row most of my rails at not the tequila now though I've got [ __ ] Casco tequila now um there's only a very few people that I will deal with because a people wouldn't come to the table like as in they wouldn't even like I couldn't even get meetings with them and I was just trying to set up a venue they could have been in the rail right like this was the thing they had the opportunity to to [ __ ] fill the rail, but they weren't there. Whereas it was a lot of other people were like just I just like no replies to [ __ ] emails. You don't have the credentials for me to Even

Taran: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Have a second for you. Now,

Ronan: Now they're coming out and I'm like, you can get on the back bar, but that's it. Well, what you know, like where were you in the inception when I was trying to set this venue up and I was reach I was reaching out and got given all these contacts and then no one was no one was getting back to me and then they seem they're the ones that are like weird about it now and it's like well this is what you get.

Taran: I can't wait for the bar awards. You you

Ronan: [ __ ] wait. You wait. I want to win one. All I want to do is win one. I want to lead it and be like best fit that that he did himself and then I want to rinse the industry.

Taran: Most work done most work put into a Venue personally.

Taran: Yeah. The saddle that is off Facebook Marketplace. I reached out right this woman I only paid 200 bucks for it which it's it's if you actually look at the leather work it's incredibly detailed off Facebook Marketplace. This woman lovely was moving back to she was a American Greek Greek Greek Greek American like she was American but lived in Gree like she's from Greece right was moving back to a ranch in Greece was

Ronan: Selling all of her stuff I hit her up cuz I saw this saddle 200 bucks on marketplace went and met her in North Sydney she was and I told her what I was doing and she was like I wish you'd contacted me like two months ago I gave away so much stuff like like all of her hat like hats every so much. She just gave away. She goes, I've actually got a set of which is now in the bathroom the books. She goes, I have a set of leatherbound uh it's American history like wild west history books. She's like come and collect them. You can have them for the venue. She was like stoked on it. So she g I got that off her and then she gave me the books. Um, I [ __ ] love that thing. I'm like obsessed with it. It's such a beautiful piece. I was going to say the number one artwork in here though is in the bathroom, which you probably haven't seen in the far bathroom is a framed hole punched in the wall that's got it's fragile masculinity. Everyone [ __ ] you know the you've been in that one e everyone everyone talks about that. They love it. It's like the number one thing in here. They're like that's so good. That [ __ ] hole in the wall. basically masculinity a whole bunch of the wall. Where'd you get that one from?

Taran: So that there's a a venue I'm pretty

Ronan: Sure in Melbourne. If I had the source, I'd love to, you know, reference the source, but I don't. But from memory, it was Melbourne. Someone had actually punched a hole in a wall in a venue and they had framed it and written fragile masculinity artists unknown. I did the same thing in the bathroom. And the reason I did it was for my hope that someone would see it and maybe question something in their life a little, you know, like have a little bit of a maybe I should be less of a idiot or Yeah. Yeah. less of a hot head than, you know, like maybe they'll actually question something in their life. That's why I actually put it in there for people to see and just have a little think about their kind of how they are, how they how they are in the world and things like that. What's it like working with your partner? working with your fiance. Uh well, she comes in once a week on Saturdays. Um so she's a design director, which was really good. So she did she did the um I guess the all the print design. So the menus, the the the actual branding was all her, which was great to have her because we are very similar in a lot of ways and we could bounce off each other in terms of designing it. working with her on once a week. I mean, the the whole concept of her working on the Saturday was literally so we could meet again as we spoke about her like off camera was our whole schedule's changed. She's a design director, so she works during the day. I all of a sudden started working nights every single night. So, she comes in Saturdays and works. She's a great worker. So, which I actually love. I love that she's she's on the floor. She's great on the floor, which is like super handy for me. Um, but we work we work really well together as well. It's nice. It's nice to have that um that dynamic where I'm not stressed working with her either. Like I'm not like, "Oh, I've got to tell her, you know, I still treat her like she's one of the team members in that way. Like it's there's no like special privileges or things like that. I still talk to her how I would talk to everyone else. If something needs to get done, hey, can you do this?" There's no like, "Do you think you could do it?" But it's like, "Hey, I need this done." Which is nice. And she respects that as well. So, it's good. So, yeah, it's definitely And it's also nice to have someone in your corner that's um as invested as you. So, she just wants the best for the venue as well because she wants the best for me. So, that's it works really well like that. Yeah. And how did you guys meet each other? It's funny cuz we're getting married in March and we had to fill out a form and it said, "How did you meet each other?" And it's and I wrote like all true modern day love stories on an app. So we met on an app, had a date at Fortunate Son. It was our first date and it was like from the get- go it was like this is it. So that Yeah, that was it. And then it was just game on from there. This will be interesting. This is one of my This is one of my most viewed uh shorts from Steve's podcast. Um and it was choosing between bar luxuries. Now, it's going to be super it's going to be super fun because Steve's someone who has spent like probably 30 something years in the industry and you spent like

Taran: Two and a half months and three months. Yeah. Yeah. So, your both of your bar luxuries are

Ronan: Probably I feel like they're going to be different. Choose between a vertical rinser

Taran: Or a crushed ice machine. Vertical rinser. Yeah, I would 100% agree with you.

Ronan: Anyway, uh vertical rinser or a clear ice

Taran: Like a So you don't I don't know if you've seen

Ronan: Like a barebones is the biggest

Taran: That's what we carry. So we carry bare Bones, clear ice.

Taran: So clear ice over a vertical riner. Yeah. Um you've got clear ice or um chilled

Ronan: Glassware. So glassware glassware. Oh, Because I harp on so much about clear ice. Clear ice. Um, you've got clear ice

Taran: [ __ ] Clear ice. Um, clear eyes. Clear ice or a barback? Clear ice. Oh, and then clear ice or a nonp polish glass washer. So, it's got like a reverse osmosis Setting.

Taran: Clear ice. Clear ice is a winner. I'm a bit of a savage on clear ice. I

Ronan: Have this thing where if I go to a venue, and I get it, not everyone does it. And I'm an oldfashioned venue. But when I when I go [ __ ] here we when I go to a venue and I get an oldfashioned and it's got well ice in it.

Taran: Oh, I'm a little I'm a little upset. I'm a

Ronan: [ __ ] little upset. I'm in the same boat. Don't give me that. Why are you giving me this? I don't want it. I want I would rather an oldfashioned neat stirred down to just straight into the glass than giving me [ __ ] well ice. Do not give me well ice. And I get it. It's a it's a it's a cost. Like it's an extra cost. Also, if you're not known for doing old-fashions or Negronis or Bulvadas or Sazzarat, generally anything that's stirred down and is a great drink, why would you carry it? I get that, but I don't like it. Yeah. I'm also in like I'm also in the thought process that like if you're ordering a Oldfashioned or an Agrroni from like a venue that clearly that's not their expertise and you get served something with well ice, you're like, "Ah, well, I probably should have anticipated this before I ordered it."

Taran: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So,

Ronan: There's that. There's like there's that like adjusting and like you said, Yeah. you're kind of like, "All right." But if I go to a nice cocktail bar and I order a Negroni and it's and it comes out like that, I'm kind of like disappointed.

Taran: I am disappointed. It did ruin my night. Yeah. It's re Yeah. And then I'll go home, Nicker. And I'll go home and I'll be like, "Can you believe that?" So, and she'll let it go, but I [ __ ] won't. I will never let it go. I won't let it I won't let it go. I struggle to let that go. Don't just don't do it. Yeah.

Taran: Yeah. I love my clear ice. Started making it at home.

Ronan: Do you make Do you make clear ice at home?

Taran: With the molds or you mean like just to Get clear ice?

Taran: To get clear ice like in a home setting.

Ronan: You've got to um so if you do it like if you think about where ice freezes, it freezes from outside inwards. Yeah.

Taran: So the inside is always going to be your Cloudiness, your bubbles, your

Taran: All imperfections. So the trick is to

Ronan: Get your ice to freeze from top to bottom as opposed to

Taran: Outside to in. So the way you do that is by using any sort of uh anything that's insulated. So, um, like if an Eskie can fit in your freezer, take the top off, chuck in your freezer. If you use like all like the takeaway coffee cups, like the reusable ones, they're

Ronan: Insulated. So, if you put that in your freezer, it's going to freeze from top to bottom. So, the top half is going to be crystal clear and your bottom half is going to be cloudy. So, you just chop off the bottom half and you got crystal clear ice at home.

Taran: There we go. That's good. I like that. But you should definitely also uh buy Barebones. Oh, I'm Oh, yeah. I'm always uh spruing

Ronan: Bare Bones because it's Shout out to Bare Bones.

Taran: The amount of comments over the bar when people see when you put that drink down a in a frosted glass, but also with that just block sitting in it every nearly every time they're just like they're shocked. People are shocked about it. So, there's something in that as well. Yeah, it's a definitely is a has its little wow moment. Yeah. For someone who hasn't seen it before. Well, that's the other thing. It look I mean it looks great when you see you know when you see it sitting there. It's I feel like Raven Spur has a new town

Ronan: Soul to it and it feels intentional on your end. Like obviously you knew the way you wanted the bar to look, but did you make any edits and changes in terms to it being in New Town as a community?

Taran: Not really. It's I mean I'm now from this community. So like I just I guess followed what I guess from being around the area as well and around the community, I just followed what again what I would want. I didn't really I No, I didn't really edit it though. It just became what it was um uh organically. So, and which seems to hit in the like, you know, like a lot of my friends are from the local area as well, so they and they still drink here. So, yeah, I didn't re It's It's funny. Hey, I actually didn't really think about it, I guess, intentionally. It was just like it just like came out and flowed like that. So, it's probably it's probably turned into that kind of into a inner west venue aesthetic, vibe, style, everything about it, but without me being like, that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to do an inner west. I'm going to do a new town Venue.

Taran: Like I said ear, I'm just going to build my venue how I want. Yeah. And if everyone likes it, they like it.

Ronan: And they seem to like it. So, what was your go-to place to drink in venue uh before you open this place up? Definitely fortunate son. Um, so fortunate son for cocktails, the juke for just being the juke. Like I I will always love the juke. Um, and then honestly uncanny. Uh, great team, great cocktails, great food. Julian uh who is one of the owners and is generally on premises most of the time uh was actually a great help and a great sounding board when I was first starting to talk to about how to set things up and things like that. So there they would be my three. Yeah. And then in terms of a pub, the Warren View cuz it's so close. They do a great schnit but that was like that was like Yeah. Cuz it's close as well. I love going to the Warren View again with my fiance and her daughter was like really nice and and chill and easy to go to. Um, but fortunate has always been my like I've just got such a like special place in my heart for Fortunate for just everything about it, you know, the team, the drinks, the vibe, the service, everything. Yeah. Last drink, last meal, last song. End of your life. if we're going open would be an old fashion. Um

Taran: And where where you get an old fashion From?

Taran: My I'll make it myself. I would make my own. I my last drink of my life I would make myself. I'd make an oldfashioned um as much as I love rye, I would make a bourbon oldfashioned just cuz that's what I love. Um, last meal that's my last meal would be made at home with Nika, my fiance, when we get high and make weird [ __ ] like weird combin you know those like high combinations. Um, medicinal of course. Um, and it would be like I don't even know. It would be some weird concocted meal. Who knows? It's like the amount of like random stuff that we've come up with. So, if it was like it would be that with her at at home, like that was kind of what it would be. Uh, I'm just trying to think. generally to be some mix of almost like a Poké Ball but like some weird Poké Ball with like just other like we like slap so much stuff into I'm going to say uh that's a tough one. Last song is a tough Probably straight off the top of my head would be Dan Zig, Am I Demon would be my last song and I would listen to it in here drinking that oldfashioned.

This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity from the original recording.