The Darlie Laundromatic, a music venue, bar and restaurant operating out of a disused laundromat in Sydney's Darlinghurst district, has opened.
The number of small bars in Sydney has been steadily growing since changes were made to the city's small bar licensing legislation, most notably reducing the cost of what was often an unaffordable liquor license. During the day, the Darlie Laundromatic, situated just off the eastern—and busiest—end of Oxford Street, will double as a bar and café, with DJs set to takeover throughout the evenings. The opening has also meant that the HAHA Industries-helmed D&D's Beat Kitchen will be revived and held each Thursday, while local DJ/producer Jamie Lloyd will step behind the controls on a weekly basis.
We caught up founder, Noel Saenger, to chat about Darlinghurst, Sydney's licensing laws and his long-term plans for the Darlie Laundromatic.For how long has the Darlie Laundromatic been in the making?
It's strange how things happen. I have lived in Surry Hills for the last five years—after moving from Byron Bay—and felt at home with the area. I had no real intentions of opening a bar, but after many years of DJing I had grown very accustomed to being in one. On a Sunday afternoon walk around nine months ago, I saw the Darlie Laundromatic for lease, and it struck me as a great opportunity to bring an old and outdated laundromat back to life again. My current business partner was a colleague working with me on Cockatoo Island in Sydney Harbour at the time. He is an architect by trade, and we teamed up with another partner—a builder—to fund and create what is now the Darlie Laundromatic.
Obviously, we have great heads for getting things done, but the Darlie wouldn't be the home that it is without our amazing manager Lauren Thorpe and chef Charlotte Weight, both of whom have really outdone themselves and we are very proud (and relieved) to have such radical friends working with us. After opening last week, we are all really excited about the chatter that is building around us and just happy to be part of Sydney's thriving cultural, bar and arts scene.
Why was it important to open up a new venue in Darlinghurst?
To be honest, it wasn't a consideration that Darlinghurst needed a new venue. Darlinghurst already has plenty of bars and cafés, and they all do it exceptionally well. What we did differently was to really work with the space we inherited. From the start, we wanted to make sure we didn't spoil the character of the laundry with our fit out. We knew, given the location, that we would get traffic, so it was our aim to create the most authentic laundromat bar experience we could.
Couple that with a casual dining menu providing options for all—vegetarian, vegan, gluten and dairy-free—DJs creating the mood and very reasonably priced beer, wine and spirits, and you have the Darlie Laundromatic.
How often will you be hosting music of some sort? We see that you've just installed a DJ booth and new soundsystem.
I have DJed and produced for almost 10 years under the name Noel Boogie, so I have many friends who share the same passion and who are enthusiastic about collecting and playing music. Dean and Dave from HAHA Industries will be providing a weekly mix of record-only selections on Thursdays, Jamie Lloyd is taking on Fridays, and friends and I will take on the Saturday sets.
Setting up a bar/café in Sydney is notoriously difficult, particularly when there's music involved. How did you find it?
It comes down to process. There are council requirements to ensure that all new developments are within council controls. You have to do your homework, put together some tight documentation and really provide the council with as many reasons "why" your new venue will benefit the community, not adversely affect the local amenity and still provide a usable space. For us, this process was hard work but fortunately not as difficult as other Development Applications I've heard about.
There's also a gallery space—tell us about it.
The format of the building really lends itself to a gallery, and the area has both the National Arts School as well as many "proper" galleries, like the Tap Gallery down the road. We thought our white walls facing Palmer Street would provide a great location for local artists to exhibit their works in a more informal environment, but still in an area recognized for the arts. It helps us to engage with these local artists and to create a more dynamic environment inside our venue.
The gallery is really a bonus for us—we launched our friends Nicholas Elias's works there last week and it is great to celebrate someone's skills and ability. Our chef Charlotte is also an amazing artist, so when we let her loose from the kitchen she will wreak havoc with those walls.
Finally, what's the plan for the rest of the year? Is there anything you'd like to see happen Darlie Laundromatic-wise by the time 2012 arrives?
The venue has room to move. We are launching the rear courtyard this week, we have the lease for the residential building upstairs which we will hope to create a new private dining room with a poker room feel. When Daylight Savings hits we will launch our Sunday's with open BBQ, open decks and punch. If the council are feeling really generous, we are hoping for a slice of the vacant block next door –for now though, we are happily warming our new space.