Laundys relishing craft beer venture

Sydney’s Laundy family are excited about the successful overhaul of one of their hotels to focus on boutique beers and dining.

The veteran pub operators snapped up the Quarryman’s Hotel on Harris Street, Pyrmont for $3.5 million last year.

After an extensive renovation the group recently unveiled the pub’s New York-style ‘industrial’ themed interior, along with a strong focus on quality craft beers and fresh produce from the adjacent Fish Markets.  

The new direction was inspired by the observations of operations manager and Laundy son-in-law Nick Tindall.

“Pyrmont has some great hotels, but everybody was offering the same beers and the same old food options,” Tindall said.

Speaking to TheShout, Stu Laundy acknowledged that the Quarryman’s is “a different direction for our family”.

“If I'm being honest, our recent history when stepping outside what I call the Laundy ‘larger format’ core expertise into small inner city pubs is less than stellar, but this is my brother-in-law Nick's vision.” 

In a dig at his relative, Laundy said Tindall is “a pretty smart kid – he went to Grammar school, and that’s usually the benchmark for intellect as far as I’m concerned”.

“Anyway, I think he's done a fantastic job and the pub looks sensational.

“I know the whole craft beer / boutique brewery concept definitely interests dad, so it could well be the start of something big... time will tell," said Laundy.

Sporting over 25 draught options including pioneering creations by the likes of Riverside Brewing, Mountain Goat and hand-pumped Young Henry’s, the bar of raw timber and bare brickwork is overlooked by a neon motto declaring, “In Hops We Trust”. 

Upstairs the Drunken Fish facilitates ‘market to plate’ freshness in seafood specialties alongside modern bistro-style fare.  

Source: The Shout, 15 November 2013