We finally had our own venue on Brunswick St Fitzroy; one that we were pretty sure wouldn't burn down unless it was "an accident". Formerly a Spanish restaurant called "Torremelenos", it was furnished with heavy solid timber tables and chairs slung with uncomfortable leather supports. To economise, the rustic tables were trimmed, the horrific chairs thrown out and we could fit another 10 people in for the bumper Christmas season.

Brunswick St was on the brink of becoming one of Melbourne's busiest nightlife attractions but in 1979 it was rather rundown and very quiet.

 

With seven partners pitching in, we needed a name and if you read the banner (left), you can see that naming things was not our strongest point. 

 

BYO. "if you're God , why don't you turn this Ben Ean into wine?

This was the only kind of liquor license available for our venue so our guests brought their own and enjoyed a three course meal with the show. We agonised over raising the price from $10 to $12 per head.

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