7 minute read
Mosaic Hotel: West Lakes
WORDS: JOSH TEAKLE
THE NEW MOSAIC HOTEL IN WEST LAKES IS ABSOLUTELY STUNNING.
At the start of the year stunning is not a word that would have accurately described the former Checkside Tavern as it desperately clung to the side of a quickly evaporating Football Park.
Beginning in March the “dated, dark, tired and boxy” 26-year-old Tavern underwent a huge $4.5m redevelopment to completely overhaul the exterior and internal floor-plan, before it was rebranded and re-opened as the Mosaic Hotel in mid-September.
Hotel general manager Emilee Moore came on-board mid-way through the construction process and saw it develop from an empty shell to a “classy gathering place” in the heart of West Lakes.
Aside from the glamorous floor-to-ceiling windows that encompass the hotel, Emilee believed Mosaic was an appropriate name for the establishment given the wide range of people that had visited, enjoyed and embraced the hotel in recent months.
“The demographic in West Lakes is so diverse, there are people that have lived in the region since it was established and then there is a younger, new generation down here with all the development going on around us,” she said.
“Like a mosaic tile, you’ve got a piece of this and a piece of that and it all comes together in one venue so for us there is no set target focus just yet. It’s a place that keeps everyone happy, whether it be older people who come in to play bridge, families coming through for a nice dinner or a group of friends sitting around a table for hours laughing and swapping stories over a few drinks.
“With 1200 dwellings going up behind us in the next three years, that’s 2500 people in our backyard. And we have no idea who that’s going to be so why not take the time to build a venue that establishes a good name and a local focus – let’s be the local hotel for all these people.”
Aside from the COVID-19 enforced lockdown in late November, Emilee said the hotel was very much exceeding expectation, already developing a “special ambience” for people to enjoy a local wine and cheese plate with friends or a quality meal produced by experienced head chef Amanda Gutte.
“Pre lockdown we were doing 2000 meals a week, it was fantastic, it actually doubled our expectations,” she said.
“We were receiving some fantastic feedback which is really heartwarming considering the blood, sweat and tears that have gone into building this great place.
“People were coming in here and couldn’t believe it is the same place it once was.
“Everything around here is very pub-style. We are the next level up, not premium, but there is nothing down here like this – it’s a novelty to come here and people are enjoying the good quality food and beverage options.”
The venue has always been owned by the SANFL and despite the State’s professional football headquarters re-locating to the Adelaide Oval, leaving the Football Park site to be transformed into a residential haven, Emilee said there would always be an emotional tug towards the area for football fans.
“The special part about working here is that the money goes back into supporting community football, the State Leagues, inclusive and Indigenous leagues and a range of footy programs for kids across SA,” she said.
“The oval is remaining and the dwelling is being built around it, so there is a deep SANFL and SA-footy connection to that oval. Why not deliver something people can be proud of, even if it doesn’t directly involve football?
“The SANFL team is so proud of what they have done and so am I, they could have easily sold it and it could have been transformed into houses but I think it’s amazing.”
In what is a proud sporting State, there is nothing quite like the comradery of cheering home your favourite team in the front bar of a pub – and that will remain in the Mosaic’s newly fitted out TAB facility and sports bar – but Emilee said the hotel possessed something just as important to the fabric of SA.
“When it comes to our beverage list, it is local South Australian,” she said.
“I designed a wine list with 100% SA wines, gins, spirits and all the craft beer is from SA.
“We thought, we have had such a terrible year, lets support SA – we support local football, why not support local business.
“Even the menu, 90% of Amanda’s food is sourced from around our State and we even have a ‘taste of SA’ platter and different degustation lunches that celebrate produce from our regions.”
Growing up, she lived in her parents’ (Kerry and Patricia Moore) Adelaide CBD-based pub, the Brecknock Hotel on King William Street where she started playing her role at the tender age of seven, cleaning the hotel’s rooms.
Before too long Emilee was washing dishes, taking table orders and working behind the bar pouring beer and it wasn’t too hard for her to realise a career in hospitality was the right move for her.
From there she studied hotel management at Regency Park Tafe SA, before jetting to her mother’s home country of Canada at the age of 21 to work as a chef for the next seven years, something Emilee said helped her in her future management roles to build a good rapport with kitchen staff.
Returning to SA Emilee became the fifth generation Moore to operate the Brecknock Hotel, before “ticking off a few bucket list items”; working at a football club (West Adelaide) as well as
Adelaide’s Festival Theatre, Convention Centre, Entertainment Centre and the Stamford Plaza.
But it was always pubs that tugged at Emilee’s heart-strings, playing an important role in re-opening the Whitmore Hotel on Morphett Street in 2018.
“I have done the fine dining thing, the five-star thing, the corporate world and realised it wasn’t for me,” she said.
“I returned to the pub life because I love to sit down and have a conversation with my customers and build a relationship with them – it’s just a lot more fun.
“I love people, there are so many different, eccentric, funny, strange, fantastic people out there and I could talk to someone for days about their stories.
“Hospitality is a great industry to be in so I love teaching people about it, but something I really pride myself on is my passion and knowledge for wine and food.
“I have all this knowledge in my head and I just like to tell people about it, whether it be staff or customers, I don’t mind.”
Emilee’s fascination for people’s behaviour was at the forefront of her mind during November, witnessing the “incredible” reaction to the news of an impending immediate six-day lockdown.
“There was a lot of panic and straight away the phone ran hot with cancellations, but when we were able to re-open again on the Sunday, we had people returning with bookings for the following week and big groups for Christmas,” she said.
“The great part of running a pub is that no two days are ever the same but I hope we never have to do that again because it was very hard work to pack the whole place down only to set everything back up a couple days later.”
