View the Mobile Version of M+N

Discussions

Handsome Steve's House of Refreshment

anonymous  said about 4 years ago  or at  5:04PM on Tuesday, May 22 2007 in chat

Awesome name..

Refreshmenting

Steve Miller - the one-time Moodist (the band which spawned Dave Graney), latter-day bar-keeper (he was publican at Fitzroy's Standard for eight years) and record producer (he gave us Lisa Miller) - has opened a new bar of his own at the Abbotsford Convent.

With a balcony overlooking the convent's courtyard, vintage fittings and equipment and "a magnificently evocative mural reminiscent of those once seen in country milk bars", Miller has christened the venture Handsome Steve's House of Refreshment. The name itself is refreshment enough.


anonymous  said about 4 years ago:

Manhattan  said about 4 years ago:

I like it.


T J Honeysuckle  said about 4 years ago:

I am so there.


tangy_zizzle  said about 4 years ago:

Haha, the website is great.


anonymous  said about 4 years ago:

THE INTERVIEW
Interview with Steve Miller, AKA ‘Handsome Steve’ of Handsome Steve’s House of Refreshment, the Convent’s newest hidden gem.

Handsome Steve’s House of Refreshment is not your average café/bar, is it?

As a kid growing up in Mount Gambier I loved ‘wog bars’. We had two in town: the Cosmopolitan and
the Gi-Gi. They were so mysterious and different. I used to look in through the window and see blokes
chatting and having a good time. It was quite intimidating to actually go into those places as it felt like
the patrons were members of a club – and I wasn’t a member!

I believe such cafes have played a huge and unsung role in Australia. Those guys were making
wonderful coffee as a matter of routine while our parents were still doing science experiments to make
a brown fluid they called coffee. That we can now get a reasonable cup of coffee in more than a
handful of places is down to those pioneering early cafes.

When I travelled overseas in the Eighties I was pretty excited to see the original wog bars. They used
to cook the best eggs and used real oranges to make orange juice – at a time when, back in Australia,
orange juice came from a carton.

That’s been my model. It took a bit of a journey, but I’m pretty happy with the way it’s working out.

Have you always been in the hospitality industry?

My dad was a baker in Mt Gambier, so I guess that’s on the periphery of the industry. I played in bands
for years in the eighties, mostly overseas, and when I came home in 1989 a mate contacted me and
said: “Let’s buy a pub”. When I lived in London I used to have a drink at a great West Indian pub quite
unlike anything I’d seen before: it had couches, a great sound system and good food and coffee.
Even though I hadn’t poured a beer before (and neither had my mate) I thought the idea of buying The
Standard Hotel in Fitzroy was a great idea and we set about making some changes to bring it closer to the feel of the pub I enjoyed in London.

Did the customers welcome your innovations?

As the bloke was taking the jukebox out of the pub, he remarked over his shoulder that we’d be broke
in three months – you can’t run a pub without a jukebox! We put in a good sound system and played
our kind of music. We chucked out the bain-marie and even turned off the fluorescent lights in the front
bar. Hell, we were just about the only pub around that didn’t serve Carlton Cold and we resisted the
pressure to serve hot chips for six years!

What we were doing as it turned out was creating the template for new pubs in Fitzroy. In my time with
the Standard there were 70 new licences issued in Fitzroy – and virtually all of the pubs in that lot
incorporated the concepts we pioneered.

How was life post The Standard?

My business partner left in 1996 and I bailed out a year later. I was ‘out in the desert’ for a while. I
applied for a few jobs, although my wife was kind enough to remark that I had the worst resume she
had ever seen. Unsurprisingly, none of the applications came to much.

My wife and I started to reproduce. I cruised around, looking at sites, letting ideas firm for the next
venture.

And that lead you to the Convent?

Indeed it did. I saw the site and it presented the opportunity to realise my early dream of the wog bar. I
put in a bid that included the touches central to the concept, including the terrazzo floor and, of course,
the mural. I expected to be either rejected outright or nibbled to death on the details.

To my surprise and delight, the far-sighted people at the Convent gave the go-ahead: yes, you can put
terrazzo on the floor; yes, by all means paint a giant mural on the corridor wall.

The already famous Mural! There must be a story to it?

I wanted a picture that could be the model for the mural. I had an idea of the sort of thing I wanted, so when I spotted a cheesy Mediterranean-style picture in a demolition yard in Preston I knew I had my mural design. I asked a set designer to take on the tricky task of transposing the image of the 750mm x 300mm picture to the rather larger canvas of the corridor wall. She did a marvellous job and it took her only two days.

There’s another nice bit of synchronicity with that demo yard. I bought the bar we have here at that yard and chatted to the manager, who mentioned that his father used to graze cattle here. He remembered coming here with his dad after the nuns had left and finding bins of rosary beads abandoned in the empty buildings.

Incidentally, I wanted a boxing picture also and searched around the Internet. I tracked down the terrific shot of Muhammad Ali in classic boxer pose – but underwater. Perfect.

So what’s the philosophy of Handsome Steve’s House of Refreshment?

The key is minimalism: stripping stuff away rather than adding. The essence of a wog bar is that there
is no need for a menu, as you know it will have croissants, some cheese, some ham, and good bread
perhaps and of course great coffee.

I was in a café in North Fitzroy a while ago and a customer asked for a ‘skinny latte’. The proprietor
offered what I considered to be the perfect response: “Lady, this is a wog bar – we don’t serve skinny”.
That’s the essence.

I have to add that I was shocked recently when I strolled past that establishment and there in the
window was a sign shamelessly proclaiming, “we now have skinny”. A sell-out!

I’ve made compromises, too, though. At the request of a tenant, I now offer decaf, something not on
the original plan.

Joking aside, I am serious in my belief that specialisation is the key to running a place that’s interesting to the customer and to the owner. Don’t attempt to be all things to every fashion, but rather do something well. Make a great hamburger, a fabulous spanakopita; keep it simple, with fine ingredients that are always fresh because of the good turnover.

What’s then future for Handsome Steve?

It’s here. This is my future. I’d like my kids to work here to help them pay their way through university.
My lease is initially for 5 years but obviously I’m hopeful of extending that. This place will age with me.

Handsome Steve’s seems an ageless sort of place…

Well, growing up is so hard to do, isn’t it? I asked my Dad, well into his eighties, if this growing up
business gets any easier as the years tick by.

He said no, it didn’t.

That’s when I decided we all needed a place where we could leave the everyday world behind for a
spell: the House of Refreshment. Welcome to Handsome Steve's parallel world. But don't worry - I'll
get you back safely!


the power of 666  said about 4 years ago:

Will the Steve Miller Band play?


anonymous  said about 4 years ago:

notice sir les in the top right hand corner


sharptooth  said about 4 years ago:

looks like what i wish my grandfather's house looked like


the power of 666  said about 4 years ago:

this is pretty much the greatest thing ever, I must say...


the power of 666  said about 4 years ago:

ok, this is scary...


the power of 666  said about 4 years ago:


anonymous  said about 4 years ago:

paul keating top left corner.


the power of 666  said about 4 years ago:

So people with an idea of melbourne, is this accessable?


anonymous  said about 4 years ago:

take away cups!


anonymous  said about 4 years ago:

its the suburb west of collingwood.


anonymous  said about 4 years ago:


anonymous  said about 4 years ago:


kuroneko  said about 4 years ago:

the Gaddy Ablett in the corner is a bit frightening....

I wonder how long the stumble home to mine would be?


T J Honeysuckle  said about 4 years ago:

Melways 44 G5

There is at least one bus route down Johnson St, or you can tram it down Victoria Parade and walk up Nicholson St.


anonymous  said about 4 years ago:

i've walked from near yours to nicholson in abbotsford a few times, not too bad.

then again, may not be open that late as a bar, more as a cafe so far?


View Comments 20 to 121

We've limited the amount of comments shown in these larger topics to allow for faster viewing, simply click here to load all the missing comments ...

Loungey  said about 4 years ago:

Is it open on Friday nights?


de.foxus  said about 4 years ago:

til about 7, i think.


nyx  said about 4 years ago:

Oh and Handsome Steve is lovely.


whosgotthecrack?  said about 4 years ago:

and handsome :)


de.foxus  said about 4 years ago:

i was too lazy for coffee :(


whosgotthecrack?  said about 4 years ago:

i am doing my darndest to abstain and i miss steve accordingly

i go over just for chat, but it's all the stairs, you see


whosgotthecrack?  said about 4 years ago:

i'd


Peaches  said about 4 years ago:

Could you be any more adorable cracksy?!


Punch  said about 4 years ago:

i called steve the other day to make sure he would be open by appointment after 7pm for a couple of us, and when i got there he asked me where i found his phone number and not to tell anyone.


mipearson  said about 3 years ago:

This place is awesome. Went there today and had a pie floater and a pot of beer.


whosgotthecrack?  said about 2 years ago:

happy birthday handsome steve!

thanks for the nice strong coffee

needed it


Thrummmer  said about 2 years ago:

One of nature's true gentlemen.
YOU GO, FELLA!


Block  said about 1 year ago:

Was there yesterday afternoon, enjoying a jug or three on a beautiful afternoon. Good as ever, and Steve was in fine form.
God, why did I leave it so long between visits?


philip-box  said about 1 year ago:

so is it ''single'' friendly - the mrs is not innerested in going.
would have joined you block for a jug or two after work.


Block  said about 1 year ago:

Take a newspaper, or grab a mag from inside- no one will mind.
Was a spur of the moment thing, p-b.


outerspacextrapnel  said about 1 year ago:

I saw you walking away from there yesterday Block! I was running late for a wedding, so I couldn't stop. I did try to wave.


Block  said about 1 year ago:

Oh, I didn't see you.
I was in a hurry too.


bruce tote  said about 1 year ago:

It's always fun to go with someone who is silly enough to order a skinny soy latte


russiancaravan  said about 1 year ago:

This would have been the perfect weekend for it. I haven't been in ages.


Tenth Victim  said about 4 months ago:

Good luck to the Cats for tomorrow Steve.


You need to be logged into Mess+Noise to contribute to the Discussions.
Go on and Log In or if you you're not a member, feel free to Sign Up.

Today On Mess+Noise
MESS+NOISE on Facebook

The M+N Newsletter

Sign up for special offers, giveaways and exclusive tracks. The best spam you'll ever receive.