BEREFT

Our favourite watering hole is to close.

15 April 2010

 To All My Dear Customers

 After many months of negotiation with our landlord over a rent increase, it has become clear that we are no longer able to stay at our present site of 11 Woodward Street. A new tenant will be moving into the space sometime in May.

 Our 20^th Anniversary party on April 30^th will certainly still take place but it will be our last day of trading and also a fond farewell from us all at the bar.

 In saying that, there has been some activity regarding new investors and potential new sites in which to relocate, but time constraints and commitments elsewhere exclude me from any involvement for now. I firmly believe a new and enthusiastic team could easily take up the reins again and continue the Beaujolais tradition at another site. Watch the spaces!

 For myself, I would like to thank all of you for your unwavering loyalty and patronage over the twenty years that I have owned and managed the bar. It’s been a hair-raising   and wonderful ride that seems to have finished in an instant and I am left with many fond memories, many, many friends and enormous respect for an industry that really sorts out the ‘men from the boys’. (And as a woman in this racket, I’m amazed that I’ve lasted this long!)

 So for the next two weeks I urge you all to come in for a last drink (or two or three), a last meal, a last gathering of friends in the special ambience that belongs to Beaujolais. I will be at the bar all day and night of the April 30^th with Anton, Casey et al to say my farewells and shed a tear or two with you.

 I sincerely hope to see you there.

 Kindest regards

 Debra McMillen

This is very sad as not only is Beaujolais our wine bar of choice it's also one of our favourite lunching places. 

We have had many, many of a good evening ( and afternoon) in the back cubby  talking crap, plotting to change the state of politics, gossiping, and generally raising our glasses to the  passing  of the day with the best of mates. 

The wine list was great, the food was some of Wellington's best and the series of mien hosts always convivial. 

And where oh where will we celebrate Beaujolais Day now? 

It had the sort of small and intimate bar feel that will be hard to recreate in another location. 

We will keep you posted if there is a reincarnation in another location as suggested above. 

ROHAN JAYS

We heard some sad news yesterday - an old mate, Rohan Jays passed away in Maimi.

Rohan was a well known Wellingtonian publican and man about town. We first arrived in Wellington on July 20 1998 . We drove all the way from Invercargill - parked at the Portland Towers and headed to the Old Bailey( Now the Occidental). It was the haunt for public servants, politicians, sportsmen, criminals, rich bastards, poor bastards and bastards of no account at all.

The hallmark of the pub was that everyone mixed and mingled - crims stood elbow to elbow with the rich- the famous and the influential and chewed the fat over a beer at the end of the day.

Rohan ran a good ale house and treated everyone the same. If we had a guest in town he always seemed to find a ticket for them to see the footy game on that weekend.

He wasn't perfect and had a colourful past but we know one thing for certain - he was a great dad to his kids, a loving son to his parents, a great brother and he was a superb friend to those he liked and he always treated Bustedblonde like a lady.

SEX BOMBS

Well did we miss out on the action this week.

The sexy Welshman Tom Jones( yip we know girls who would shag him) was dished up some good ol kiwi hospitality last night from some of our mates. He dined at Zicos, the favourite restaurant of those in Wellington who love good food and service without the pretension. Then it was off to the inner sanctum of Oceanic Ltd, the home of the boys who are hard out raising funds for project Protect and and Heal - aimed at helping rebuild the community heart of tsunami ravaged Samoa.

The boys played pool with the The Voice until about 5am in the morning... So the man, some say is the sexiest septuagenarian on the planet ,kept up with the wild boys Locky and Tonis of Wellington.

That aint easy.

In fact its legend.

Damn we wished we were there..

But at least we got the pictures.

WELLINGTON WILL TEACH AUCKLAND HOW TO PARTY.

So Auckland is unveiling some " concepts" for the so called " party central" for the the World Cup. We wish them all the best but they wont have a patch on the party that Wellington is going to turn on for the Rugby World Cup.

We know how to party, well and for a long time.

We understand in the next few days Wellington is going to unveil one big party place that will make Auckland's look all a bit tired. It will make good use of the waterfront. We like that. And where Auckland has to build a stand alone thingy - we just join all the bars together in a big walkway. That way everyone gets a lick at the big economic ice cream.

BEST BAR NONE

We are watching with interest the builders on Garrett Street on the site of the kiddies dry bar ZEAL . Its about to go all grown up. We are expecting the TAB to close on Cuba, be housed in the old Zeal site along with a good old fashioned pub feel sports type bar. But wait theres more, A lounge area, complete with comfy sofas and a cocktail atmosphere means the place will be a hit with the eclectic Cuba Street Crowd.

The soon to be opened pub ( yet to be named) will face the wonderful Glovers Park. There are also rumours of another bar in the neighourhood.

NIGEL NO MATES

Who is the Nigel no mates who is launching a vanity publication at the Embassy? Apparently he is giving away tickets to people he barely knows in the hopes he fills the venue up.
We wonder who is paying the bill.

On a positive note CrazyHorse steakhouse has been bought by a family who have enormous expertise in running successful money making restaurants.

We will go there.

DB or not DB

Readers will be well aware that Roarprawn, and epicurean assistants, cover the food and liquor industries with a diligence which borders of fanaticism!

So it is probably no wonder that we stumbled on this revelation.

It appears that after the highly-publicised demise of the Temperance, quick sale of The Establishment, and the pathetic existence of the Loaded Hog with its skeleton staff and in serious need of some spit and polish, the Wellington empire of the once-mighty Dominion Breweries is staggering.

Apparently management is closely monitoring some 30 outlets. What happens in case of a disaster? Thirty pubs on the market?

Impossible, you may say........ yet thats what happened to the mighty Thwaites, Griffith empire a decade ago.

Readers can be assured your team is closely monitoring events!

Steinlager anyone?