Latest news with #DaleKemp
Sydney Morning Herald
03-08-2025
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
This town's ‘bottom pub' is back open with big '70s energy and a committed young crew
Australia's smaller country towns usually follow the 'one of everything' rule: one pub, one fish and chip shop, one Chinese restaurant. Yackandandah, population 1100, is lucky enough to again have two pubs, after four mates reopened The Yack Hotel on Friday with surf-n-turf, pot pies and other pub crowd-pleasers that celebrate north-east producers. Known as the 'bottom pub', the two-storey venue three hours from Melbourne closed in September and had been untouched for more than 30 years, according to new owner Dale Kemp. In the four-month restoration, fake indoor plants were ditched – part of eight skips of rubbish cleared out – and black and grey paint was replaced with brown and cream. Green tartan carpet and amber bullion glass panels that channel the 1970s complete the cosy new look. 'It's really important when you walk into a pub, that you feel almost like you're at home,' Kemp says. 'The fire is going, you can hang out with friends, and have a conversation with the person behind the bar.'
The Age
03-08-2025
- Business
- The Age
This town's ‘bottom pub' is back open with big '70s energy and a committed young crew
Australia's smaller country towns usually follow the 'one of everything' rule: one pub, one fish and chip shop, one Chinese restaurant. Yackandandah, population 1100, is lucky enough to again have two pubs, after four mates reopened The Yack Hotel on Friday with surf-n-turf, pot pies and other pub crowd-pleasers that celebrate north-east producers. Known as the 'bottom pub', the two-storey venue three hours from Melbourne closed in September and had been untouched for more than 30 years, according to new owner Dale Kemp. In the four-month restoration, fake indoor plants were ditched – part of eight skips of rubbish cleared out – and black and grey paint was replaced with brown and cream. Green tartan carpet and amber bullion glass panels that channel the 1970s complete the cosy new look. 'It's really important when you walk into a pub, that you feel almost like you're at home,' Kemp says. 'The fire is going, you can hang out with friends, and have a conversation with the person behind the bar.'
