Eaton Fair Shopping Centre’s newest establishment, Small’s Bar, opened to a warm reception from the greater Bunbury region.
Guests turned out to the bar’s official opening party on Friday, October 6.
Small’s Bar owners Ben Small and Michael Prosser’s vision was to create a more enhanced dining experience.
“We were having dinner together and we got talking about our varying experiences with hospitality around the world,” Mr Small said.
“One of the best stories was we were at a restaurant and Michael asked the waiter for a recommendation, he was torn between two dishes, and he said to the waiter: ‘What’s something special off the menu here that I should order? I’m really torn between the chicken and the beef’, and the waiter said: ‘Well, I don’t know...do you like chicken or beef better?’.
We thought: ‘hospitality in Australia can be done a bit better than this,’ and we thought it was an opportunity to start something here, even though neither of us had hospitality experience at all.
“As business owners we think we’ve got a pretty clear idea of what the customer wants so we set about creating somewhere to give it to them.’
Mr Small noted the “experience” feel was essential, with communal tables and share plates key to the layout.
The owners have sought to source and showcase the South West’s best food and drink produce.
“We’ve showcased this region to everybody else except us, so we thought if we’re going to do something we are going to make an unparalleled experience for customers in terms of service and we are going to showcase the region it’s in,” Mr Small said.
Small’s Bar general manager Michael Bovell added he was surprised to see the quality and range of produce in the region.
“We’ve been going out and looking at stuff for probably the last six months now to find the best produce around here and we’ve just been so lucky to find some really good stuff, and I didn’t know some of this stuff existed around here, it’s pretty amazing,” he said.
“We’ve been really lucky to promote everyone around here and all of the good stuff that they do.”