TALES FROM THE TOP
New horizons Coffee roaster and café operator Julien Moussi discusses his pub debut.
THE NEWLY renamed and refurbished red brick corner pub, Hotel Collingwood, has traded its Scottish tartan carpet for timber floors and espresso martinis. Melbourne’s fifth lockdown brought the renovation of the pub formerly known as the Robert Burns forward by two weeks. The pub was successfully launched last month during Victoria’s sixth lockdown with a barbie and takeaways that drew 2200 socially distanced customers over
we can put our touches on and improve,”
in having night and day venues, and we
three days.
Moussi says.
are seeing lots of efficiencies,” he says. “I
Just as with its cafes, Only Hospitality
also like the idea of creating fun venues,
for Melbourne-based café operator
The launch also marked the pub debut
seeks to create hospitality spaces that are
and I think our cafes are really buzzy and
Julien Moussi, whose Only Hospitality
welcoming, comfortable and memorable,
I’d like to achieve that with a night venue.”
Group (OHG) acquired the pub’s
and with this in mind the pub’s gas heating
The pub was renamed to make a strong
leasehold off outgoing publican Gerry
has been replaced with open fires, converted
point that the venue has a new lease on
Nass a month earlier.
back to their original state for a warmer feel.
life, according to Moussi, who says the
Inglewood Coffee Roasters is the
Espresso martinis are another fitting
strategy has paid off with the group’s cafes.
beating heart of the Only Hospitality
addition, with Only Hospitality supplying
“The bones of this venue are fantastic,
business. In addition to the roasting
the pub with its own premium on tap
the way it flows. It just needed refinement.
facility, the group also operates 15 cafes
version which it plans to roll out to other
The façade is unique, and the local area
around Melbourne. “Coffee is a big focus,
pubs down the track.
is amazing – it’s a bit of a hub. But if you
and our roaster is the number one entity in our portfolio,” Moussi says. According to Moussi, adding pubs to
Lucas group alumni John Woo and Allan Hwang are heading up the kitchen team to deliver a menu with classic pub grub
want to make a venue pop and have hype, there needs to be a significant change. “You need to put yourself out there, and
the Only Hospitality fold has always been
and mod-Asian beer food. Craft beer and
obviously that’s risky, but every time we
part of his plan. Growing up, his family
natural wines will also feature, alongside
take a venue over, we always rebrand it.
operated pubs in the ‘70s and ‘80s, so
an extensive cocktail list.
It’s what we do.”
it was a natural next step. Moreover,
Moussi says the move into pubs offers
Moussi says that while launching mid-
Only Hospitality has an eye on more pub
synergies for the group as a whole, such
lockdown is nerve-wracking, the coffee
acquisitions in the future.
as boosting job options for the group’s
side of the business has remained strong.
“We are certainly always looking to expand our portfolio and we are looking for venues that are underdone, ones that
30 | Australian Hotelier
employees. “We have 300 staff, so this will open up more opportunities for them. “There are also some great advantages
“It’s been a great backbone for us, but we are still hurting. We’re just trying to push through and be ready for when we open.”
