By the time March 1970 came around, which was the month we earmarked to open the ''Grape"we had come along way from the time Terry and I, first met outside Richard Hunts and discussed opening a wine bar.
We had secured an excellent property, in McMahons Point a location which was easily accessible from the City, Eastern Suburbs and North Shore. The property had good bones and was large with the potential to change with the trends, expand and appeal to a cross section of customers.
McMahons Point was an attractive waterfront lower North Shore Suburb, in the early seventies a bit of a sleepy hollow, mainly residential, with Blues Point Road the main thoroughfare, about two kilometres long, which ran out of road and finished in the harbour.With Lavender Bay on the north side and Berry's Bay on the south side, with the harbour at the bottom, it was undiscovered and funky, very leafy and hilly. Add to that a mix of Victorian terraces, some harbour side mansions, stone convict built working men's cottages and the Point had some history going for it with most of the colonial buildings built in the mid to late eighteen hundreds.The streets and lanes were a bit higgledy piggeldy and quite steep that added to its character.On the west side there was some light industry buildings being converted into creative ventures such as Eric Porters Film Studios and two pubs, at the top of Blues Point Road - The Commodore and at the bottom - Blues Point Hotel.There were several shops of the old school in pockets - butcher, greengrocer, general store and real estate agent, giving some village atmosphere. Add to all this several apartment buildings of varying sizes and architectural merit, some on the harbour foreshores others scattered through the streets, with one great eyesore on the tip of the point called, Blues Point Towers.
This was now our neighbourhood and we were ready to be neighbourly.We had several newspaper articles written about what we were opening and several mentions in some of the social columns.So there was some expectations building within some quarters about this new wine bar opening called The "Grape Escape".
We now had to prepare for the opening, and to that we had invitations printed and invited most of the young and some of the old "movers & shakers" from both sides of the harbour and from the advertising, film and TV and Sporting sectors.
Not having a big budget put limitations on the spending when fitting out the 'Grape', the name which it became affectionately known . After we had completed the painting internally and externally which we did ourselves and the furnishings, fittings and equipment were installed.
Our next task was employing the staff - they were, it was unanimous, to be good looking ladies with bubbly personalities. Interviewing was a joy, as word was around the North Shore and there were plenty of applicants and plenty of good sorts to choose from, we figured as we were going to operate seven days per week we would employ about twenty. Being in close proximity to North Sydney, which then was home to most of the advertising industry, meant a lot of the ladies applying came from that industry- not to say all, there were also, aspiring actresses, models and uni students as much as advertising.
One of the first to be employed was Larraine Shadforth, an English lady who was a Cordon Bleu trained chef, who was the wife of a friend of ours whom we met on Bilgola Beach just after their return from Canada and later onsite where she 'interviewed us.' Lorraine was not deterred by the size of the Kitchen or the meagre equipment and took over the reign very capably. Larraine stayed with us for two years, cooking excellent comfort food with minimum fuss and no complaints.
Her initial Menu consisted of: Oysters or pate maison with basket of toast, Rump or topside steaks, jacket potato with sour cream or herb butter and a green salad. Always a dish of the day - casserole, goulasch, chicken a la king, chilli con carne, beef bourguignon etc Cheese cake for dessert. There were chalkboards, behind the bar and in the rooms and were chalked up daily.
Then there was training, a little bit like - the blind leading the blind. in setting up for operation we were led by Penfolds who we had an arrangement to buy seventy percent of stock from them, as we held their wine license.They provided tasting courses for all the staff at their headquarters in Tempe. Our drinks list was pretty basic like everything else, by the glass: cider, red & white wine, champagne (Great Western), champagne & orange,dry or sweet vermouth (Cinzano), ports, selling for .25c per glass. Supplemented with a wine list of reds, whites and sparkling wines by the bottle. Lindeman's Ben Ean Moselle and Seppelts Para Port being some of the big sellers, all these groups used to love it when the girls from the 'Grape' would turn up for wine knowledge and tastings.
And why not, they were all stunning ladies - Gail Baxter, wife of Stevie Wright from the 'Easy Beats'. Janet Patterson who became Australia's leading costume designer nominated for four oscars - The Piano, Oscar and Lucinda, Bright Star and Portrait of a Lady. Actress Kerry Armstrong (Lantana and Sea Change) Ave Wilson, Kerry Hamble, Denise Meares, Cynthia Palmer,Pam Woods, the list is endless and these ladies and many others, helped make the "Grape Escape" the overnight success it became.
Our intention was to open for lunch and dinner, Monday to Friday, additional to hot food from the kitchen we provided bar food as in English Pubs, such as Pork Pies and pickled onions, carved ham off the bone with crusty bread and mustard and a cheese platter.On Saturdays we did a champagne breakfast, which consisted of scrambled eggs - made in an electric fry pan,toast and glass of champers.
We opened the Grape Escape Wine Bar in March 1970 which was a milestone at this stage of my development .We were both 29 with little experience in business but a fair bit on the other side of bars. I had worked in restaurants in the Bahamas and the States and Terry had some retail experience as a trainee with Woolworth's, Warwick who was a fair bit younger than us was working in his fathers business.
We leased a double fronted building on the corner of of 139-141 Blues Point Road and King Edward Street, McMahons Point. Deciding to do most of the internal fit out ourselves with architectural drawings, for Council and Licensing approval, by architect -- Warren Firkin.
This building (pictured) was built in the 1890's and was the former, London Store - Family Grocers and also held a liquor license and sold liquor by the bottle or glass. Michael McMahon sold the land and building for six hundred pounds in July 1890. Later it was leased to McWilliams, exclusively selling McWilliams Wines and continued operating as a wine bar till the mid forties when it was turned into offices and residence.We bought the property in 1972 for $40,000.00.
When we took possession the veranda was not there. There was an awning on the corner and over the entrance. Pity, it looks so good with the veranda.The entrance is not on the corner, it is to the right between the windows.
The interior consisted of two levels, the ground floor consisted of approximately 400 sm and being double fronted the staircase, entry hall were centred leading into a central area and to stairs down to a backyard. There was a room off to the right, through to two smaller rooms, on the left was one large room, that ran the length of the building. Upstairs was an L shaped area of three good size rooms, with a bathroom and landing.
The layout downstairs determined how we operated as a wine bar. The largest room suited being turned into the bar area (as before it was offices with partitioning) and the bar was purpose built by our joiners of solid Tasmanian Oak. Underneath was a cellar which worked well with the bar above and we had a trapdoor installed into the floor and step ladder into the cellar. There was a large plate glass window facing Blues Point Road and was out of kilter with the rest of the windows which were all architecturally uniform. Unable to afford to replace them with uniform size windows, so heavy floor to ceiling red velvet drapes did the job instead.
Bar equipment was basic a five door bench fridge, 120 lb ice machine, glass washer and temprites for cider and red and white wine served by the glass from nine gallon kegs in the cellar. An amplifier, speakers and sound system were installed and two second hand,wall mounted air conditioners.
The bar room was impressive due to room size and height (15m in length x 6m wide) and ceiling height( 3m high) and the size of the bar constructed was a stretched U shape, with four wooden columns at the angles, helped break up the room visually, enabling about twenty people seated around the three sides, with room for stools and high tables at one end and for people standing.This room would sometimes hold over a hundred plus people shoulder to shoulder, glass in hand drinking, all shouting to be heard over background music of the seventies being pumped out.
Across from the bar room was a vestibule type room where we laid quarry tiles and bought three wooden kegs which became tables and gave a rustic look.This area led to two smaller rooms, one becoming the kitchen. The equipment in the kitchen was even more basic than the bar - a domestic four burner electric stove, an electric griddle, a window that opened was the exhaust fan, a stainless steel sink the dishwasher some pots pans and crockery from our parents outfitted the Kitchen. A black board with soup and oysters, steak and chops and cheese cake - the Menu.
The front room on the right as you entered was carpeted as was the hallway, bar and smaller room off the kitchen. the furniture in the rooms were timber Captain Chairs with timber tables. Timber stools around the bar, the walls we painted white with little brass wall brackets for lights. The front room was more intimate with a fireplace that we used in winter.
The men's toilet had a stainless steel urinal and a WC, with the women's we went overboard and gave them a red flocked wallpaper a WC and two hand basins with mirrors.
The name " The Grape Escape" was by David Broad a mate who then worked for McCann Ericson as a copywriter and later started his own music store called "Sound Advice".
I arrived back in Sydney after having been away for six years, Mum and Dad picked me up at the Circular Quay Wharf where the Fairstar was berthed and we went back to our home at Lane Cove - good to be home and to see my folks after so long, a pity Lyn was not there.
I settled in quickly as I had my own quarters downstairs with my own entrance and bedroom studio with bathroom. I found employment with 3M (Minnesotta Mining & Manufacturing) in their photocopying department selling photocopiers with the job a car was supplied so I had transport.
Waiting outside Richard Hunts Mens Wear opposite Wynyard Station for a date to turn up, I ran into an old friend who I played rugby with, in juniors - Terry Rigney, who was also waiting for his girlfriend.The four of us decide to go out for dinner, which turned out to be the gestation of the Grape Escape Wine Bar and the end of my plans to return to Lyn and San Francisco.
Terry was the skipper of Gordon Rugby Club and was working with Legal and General selling life insurance, bored with his job as I was selling photocopiers, we decided to open a wine bar which were becoming popular in Sydney.
One of my friends from San Francisco John Campbell had opened a wine bar in Cross Street, Double Bay, called "26 Cross Street", which was going gangbusters and he gave us contacts at Penfolds Wines which held their Australian Wine License. John subsequently was given 'his marching orders' to return to San Francisco and away from the temptations of being a bar owner or else, by his wife Cindy. We had meetings with Penfolds - Alan Whitsaid was the GM and was very encouraging who said they would support our application once we had located a site.
Finding a site was easier said than done, as we both came from the North Shore it was decided the location would be on that side of the harbour and the lower part, making the site accessible for North Sydney CBD and also for the Eastern Suburbs. Also most of the people we knew lived on the North Shore and was the part of Sydney we felt comfortable about opening a wine bar.
Several sites were looked at over a period of six months around Milsons Point and North Sydney and dismissed due to restrictions by Council or site.We eventually found a site in Blues Point Road, MacMahons Point which was appropriate. It was a double fronted corner location and had room for expansion if the business warranted.Walking distance from North Sydney CBD and just over the bridge, so accessible for the city and the Eastern Suburbs.
This was where we decided to 'hang our hat'. Next step were to raise funds - for fit out and opening,obtain council and licensing permits. I approached another Rugby mate, Ian Letts from the Eastwood Club, the club I used to play with before my overseas adventures. Ian came on board and it was decided he would become a silent partner and inject capital and Terry and I would be working partners with equities of a third each.
As often in business changes occur, Ian had to re allocate his intended capital allocation into his own business which was steel, so we had to quickly find another partner. This was not difficult as we had done some hard yards.
We had found the site, Penfolds had agreed to transfer a dormant license from Palm Beach and we looked confident in our council application.Terry approached Jack Moss from the Gordon Club who came onboard and his son Warwick, who played rugby with Terry became his surrogate.
With the grand sum of $15,000.00 in the bank, approvals by councils and licensing courts,lots
of enthusiasm and brawn we took posession of 139-141 Blues Point Road, McMahons Point.
