We love spending a lazy Sunday afternoon down at Swallow Bar in Maylands, or popping in for an after dinner drink (or two) on a Saturday night. Swallow were a very welcome addition to the Maylands strip when they opened last year and no doubt you’ve been down for some frittes and a Kir Royale, but today is your chance to hear from the two owners, Meredith Bastian and Zoe Roy. These two girls are so passionate about what they do, it’s such a treat to hear from them and their interview is sure to inspire!
Official job titles:
Meredith Bastian: Director/Bar Manager/Chef
Zoe Roy: Director/Chef
How did you get to where you are now?
Meredith: I started cooking from a young age, maybe 10 years old, and had dreams of one day combining my passion for food and design into some sort of one stop shop. In a roundabout way I suppose I have ended up doing this. After studying architecture for three years I took off traveling overseas again and ended up training as a chef in Melbourne. Stepping into a commercial kitchen for the first time really made sense to me. Stephanie Alexander was always a great inspiration for me and I loved working at the restaurant she began in Melbourne, the Richmond Hill Café & Larder and then working with Jo Corrigan at her wonderful Mod-Brit restaurant The Commoner in Fitzroy. I have worked with great people with great places that have inspired me over the years in hospo like Café Giulia in Sydney and Gerald’s Bar in Melbourne. My sister and I ran a little baking business called ‘Baker Baker’ for a time, and then in 2009 Zoe and I headed to the West, intent on opening our own small bar.
Zoe: I was first drawn into the kitchen at about 16, and it inspired me to spend then following 3 years traveling and working around Europe: Ireland, France and Turkey. I came back to Australia and set up a catering business ‘Feed Your Friends’ which I ran for 2 years before diving into the amazing Melbourne restaurant scene. I had the honour of working with Stephanie Alexander during her last days at Richmond Hill Café & Larder, then stayed there another 4 years. Then an incredible year as Head Chef of The Commoner Restaurant, before Meredith and I decided to bring our dreams of setting up a bar together, to Perth which is home for Meredith.
What inspired you to open your own bar?
The bar for us is something we have been creating and planning in our heads for years.
Working in the hospitality scene, you naturally work with so many different people, and at so many different places, which influence and inspire you in their own way. As the years go by you can’t help but draw on these experiences and begin to imagine your own vision, your own place. We have both run our own businesses previously, and are very interested in the engine rooms of restaurants: what makes them tick, what makes them work, what makes them thrive. For us, opening a bar is an opportunity to bring so many interests together. Obviously our incredible passion for food and wine, and our ambition for business, but also our interests of architecture, design, photography, people, travel and music.
You initially had some setbacks with trying to find the right space for the bar. How did you end up settling for the space you’re in now?
When we first decided to come out West, we had our hearts set of setting up our bar in Fremantle. We spent a year searching and talking and negotiating, but the right opportunity did not find us. Just as we had decided to start looking further a field, Meredith was introduced to our future landlord through her work at Curtin University. The site in Maylands appealed to us instantly. An old building with history and character in an area that was still a bit rough around the edges, but has such great potential. There is nowhere else in Perth we would rather be!
Can you describe the Swallow Bar space and fit out for us?
We have always had a strong vision for Swallow; what it would look like, but most importantly, what it would feel like to be in that space. Something along the lines of warm, nostalgic and intimate. We celebrate our love of the art deco era, old, well-made things, and France and greater Europe. We have old train carriage booth seats from 1916, a beautiful recycled Jarrah bar with a pressed tin front made by a great and inspiring carpenter in Freo, old light fittings collected over time and an old lit up Tabac sign from Paris.
How did you come up with the name – did the name come first and then the bar, or did it only develop once you found the right space?
Swallow. The name came long before the space. Our concept for this business has developed over the last 4 years, and during that time there where endless discussions about names. Swallows are a special bird for us, a symbol of old world beauty and the newness of spring.
The clincher was in 2009 when we were in Paris, strolling through a street market, and came across a beautiful old wood block rubber stamp of a Swallow. All was decided then.
Take us through a typical day at Swallow Bar:
It all begins with coffee!!! Without it we wouldn’t know up from down and thankfully we have our own Wega machine and excellent Rubra dark roast Bonito Espresso.
There is always the daily special to prep as well as any number of other preparations for the night’s offering.
Errands to run all over town…
Deliveries, stock, wonderful chaos!
Blackboards to write up.
Featured wine? Featured Cocktail? What is the feel of today….
The weather always plays a big part of our day in terms of what we offer on the menu and how we set up the courtyard.
At 4pm we open the curtains, turn on the lights , crank up the music and throw open the doors…the rest of the night writes itself!
What music do you play there?
It tends to be pretty old school, old jazz favourites like Ella Fitzgerald & Nina Simone; 50s rockers like Elvis and Johnny Cash. Not always though, we like the odd bit of Bristol trip hop like Portishead, Massive Attack and Tricky amongst other things.
Sundays are special days that we open earlier and have either our fave local DJ Tim King spinning his old soul vinyl or local acts playing acoustic sets in the courtyard.
What’s your favourite thing that you serve on the menu?
The Swallow Daily! It’s our opportunity to be creative every day and to respond to what’s available in season and what’s delicious in the moment. This could be… braised rabbit, a bowl of mussels, roasted beef fillet, pork chops, composed salad or like tonight as we write this… paella!
Do you have a signature drink or dish?
Pissaladiere en Croute is probably our signature dish. It pays homage to an old French favourite and is truly delicious with just about any drink on the menu!
As well as wines and selected cocktails, we have one beer on tap that we change often depending on our whim and the weather. Our favourites so far are Monteiths Original brewed in NZ and Kronenbourg 1664 brewed in France. We also always have a large selection of international bottled beers, including a 750ml one, which is a great one to share between mates!
What’s the best thing about opening your own bar?
Fulfilling a dream, a big one of many dreams! Being part of a process from visions and dreams to ideas, brainstorms and conversations, to plans and searching, applications and research, then seeing paper plans come to life. An incredible challenge, and a very rewarding process. The learning never stops!
What’s in store for the future of Swallow Bar?
Oh sooooo many more beers and wines and incredible produce to find, sample and use! The world of food and wine never gets smaller… it only opens itself up more and more, the more you look.
Our business is based on passion, and as such we will never stop seeking and searching and sharing that passion.
As we say here at Swallow Bar, ‘If we’re not having fun… let’s not do this!’
Which local creatives do you admire?
Ooh there are many! We are lucky to be surrounded by them here in Maylands.
There’s local heroes like Creative Maylands who are in there fighting for Maylands to have a creative voice and a colourful future! So many musos and artists in the hood who bring wonderful conversation and personality into our space. And of course… the lcoals themselves… a seriously colourful bunch!
Any advice for those thinking of opening up their own bar or small business in Perth?
Do your research.
Talk to lots of other business owners with a similar formula to you.
Get to know the community.
Have a really strong concept and strong identity to the business and never loose sight of this.
Surround yourself with positive and helpful people.
And most importantly… have fun, ‘cos you love what you do! Meredith & Zoe.
Visit Meredith & Zoe at 158 Whatley Crescent Maylands, near the corner of Eighth Avenue. Introduce yourself to the girls who will see to it that you have a great time. They’re open Wednesday & Thursday 5-11pm, Friday & Saturday 4pm-12am and Sunday 3-9pm.