Small Bar Perth – Northbridge (Ezra Pound)
Saturday, September 12th, 2009
Traipse into the James St. Check.
Cross dingy car park. Check.
Enter iron gates to graffitied alley way. Check.
Find chairs and tables, and enter door way.
Welcome to Ezra Pound.
It’s currently the word on everybody’s lips. Ezra Pound. Ezra Pound. Ezra Pound. I just rolls off the tongue like a Tom Collins on a hot spring day. Except it was wild and wooly and I had a Negroni. It still hit the spot even though it was 15C. It was expertly made by owner slash manager Talmage, formerly of 1907 and West End Deli. This is his first venture into the small bar scene. Not bad for a 24 year old.
Ezra’s going for the friendly American neighbourhood bar feel. There’s a table perfect for the dealing of cards, crescents of chairs for playful banter and what looks like pews of a church for something different. The atmosphere is friendly, almost as if this were in some ghetto and we were the privileged few to gain entrance. Some decor is tired, worn and weary. Other parts are plush and new. To pay homage to the man himself – Ezra – there is a book cabinet of various works of poetry.
The main feature here are classic cocktails. Tom Collins, Negroni, Sidecar, Old Fashioned. Don’t be offended if you’re refused a JD’s and Coke. Go elsewhere for that. Wines, are ‘In focus’ meaning a bi-monthly rotation of wine from different producers, acquainting the public with different styles. Not a Sauvignon Blanc to be seen. Horay. Beers follow the same suite.
It’s an of eclectic mix of novelty and nouveau. Coopers longneck in brown paper bags, old (and functional) cash register, signature cocktails in jam jars (courtesy of Matt from Palace Foods). Not entirely un-Northbridge. I half expected to see an ‘old timer’ with shiny skin and white fleecy hair playing the blues on a harmonica. It is Northbridge after all.
Ezra Pound
Williams Lane, Northbridge
Tuesday 4pm-12am
Wednesday-Saturday 1pm-12am
Sunday 1pm-10pm
Prohibitionatory Charm.
