Fremantle gets a fresh start with new hotels, bars, restaurants
Fremantle is shaking off its image as a prison and port city.
Polishing off a passionfruit cocktail concocted by a bartender with a pharmacology degree using vodka made on-site from wine produced from 100-year-old vines, I am getting into the spirit of Fremantle. Also built from scratch in its own way, the city is similarly mixing up something new, infusing the historic with fresh flavours.
A surge of small bars, outdoor dining and boutique hotels has swept through the streets – some secreted in back alleys, others closer to the water – in tandem with an upgraded city centre. It’s been more than a century since “Freo” saw such significant change.
“This is a phenomenal time with a new wave of development spurred on by state government spending, and then City of Fremantle spending on top of that, which has led to a big confidence boost. So now the private sector is jumping in with new venues too,” explains Michael Deller, our guide and owner of Fremantle Tours.
Some of the revamped buildings have been boarded up for his entire life, so the evolution is just as exciting for the 31-year-old as for people visiting for the first time. At the root of the renewal is Kings Square, which the local council recently voted to rename Walyalup Koort (meaning “heart of Fremantle” in the Whadjuk Noongar language). Set to become a sprawling hub of retail, restaurants and relaxation in the shade of an urban forest, it has already shaken up the scene with offices for 1900 government employees relocated from Perth’s CBD. In turn, this increased weekday population has encouraged entrepreneurs to create more places to eat, drink and shop.
The $270m Kings Square redevelopment is the largest public infrastructure project in Fremantle since 1897, when its port was constructed. “That either shows how big this project is, or how little has happened in Freo. It’s a bit of both,” says Deller. “We’ve been the working-class port city of the colony since day dot. As a heritage space, it’s always had that lived-in, industrial feel, but now there’s all this public and private investment, the city is striking while the iron is hot, getting rid of the drab stuff, and bringing the whole area up to code and making a statement.”
Gone are the department stores, fast food chains and abandoned sites, in come the locally owned businesses in beautiful premises. Manning Arcade, on High Street Mall, has undergone a $45m makeover, restoring the heritage facades and opening the passageway to Paddy Troy Lane, where pubs and cafes have expanded outdoors. Newport Hotel has a restyled beer garden, surrounded by modern art murals, while Benny’s, a fixture on the parallel cappuccino strip, has converted its carpark into an alfresco bar.
The Italian restaurants, established by earlier migrants, have been joined by French, Asian, Mexican, American and vegan, along with 10 ice-cream shops and several microbreweries, including Calamity’s Rod, Running With Thieves and Kahuna Brewing Co, unveiled in the past year. The Old Synagogue, vacant since 2004, has become a four-in-one wine garden, restaurant, rooftop terrace and underground speakeasy. Built in 1895 as an artillery drill hall, Freo Social has been refurbished again as a live music venue comprising four bars, a food truck and playground.
The scene of my cocktail, Republic of Fremantle, has launched a gin school to showcase its unconventional methods. Of the few distilleries in the world that make their spirits from scratch, even fewer do it from grape, but it makes sense in a city on the cellar doorstep of a winery region. Verdelho grapes are harvested in Swan Valley, where Nikola Estate is contracted to produce a high-alcohol wine that master distiller Oliver Kitson turns into a unique base spirit in a giant custom-built still. The process creates a clean, smoother finish that can be tasted on a gin tour ($25) or mixed into Republic’s signature cocktails, which also use flavoured liqueurs made from the same wine-based spirit.
The much smaller Gimlet, a tiny aperitivo bar and cafe, occupies a corner of Warders Hotel. Formerly the convict-built cottages that housed Fremantle Prison warders from 1851 to 1991, the accommodation has been elegantly restored into 11 rooms. Original timber, stonework, window frames and wood-oven burners were preserved, while modern additions include marble bathrooms, handcrafted furniture, and still and sparkling water on tap.
Emily Taylor is set in an adjacent courtyard adorned with Chinese umbrellas and jacaranda trees. Named after a ship that sailed into Fremantle in the early 1800s via the spice routes of Asia, the lively 450-seat restaurant serves dishes that combine the two cultures, such as dumplings filled with lobster and truffles from Manjimup, WA.
Fremantle Prison, a UNESCO World Heritage site, continues to offer tours and events, including the Insider Art exhibition of creative works by the state’s inmates and an open-air cinema screening jail-themed movies such as Shawshank Redemption.
On the other side of the railway tracks, the maritime influence is remarkably intact in Fishing Boat Harbour. Commercial fishing vessels are moored, freight ships come and go, and fish and chips is the predominant cuisine at its waterfront outlets. One of the more contemporary options is Bathers Beach House, which was granted Australia’s first-ever liquor licence for dining on the sand. Absolute beachfront deck chairs and lounges can be reserved online, with food and drinks delivered by waiters.
Traditionally known as Manjaree, which loosely translates as a place to meet and trade, the area continues to be used in the same way 40,000 years later.
“How amazing that we have this continuous culture, where the Indigenous name relates to what we still do here today, with all of our artisans and the working port, where 95 per cent of all goods sold in WA come from,” Deller enthuses.
Lots of other changes are planned for Fremantle over the next few months, especially around its underused harbourside. Filling the gap between Victoria Quay’s E-Shed markets and the WA Maritime Museum, Gage Roads Brewing Company will transform the A-Shed into a family-friendly eatery in summer, while Jetty Bar & Eats is due to debut at East Street Jetty in spring.
The old courthouse and police station will also be overhauled in late 2021. Derelict for many years, the precinct has been approved for a five-storey hotel, restaurant and bar, leading out to a huge garden and glass pavilion. The iconic complex is the last of the long-neglected landmarks to get a new lease of life.
After decades locked into its image as a prison and port city, Fremantle is finally free.
In the know
Fremantle Tours has walking tours based around a range of themes, including heritage, street art, ice cream, bakeries and bars; from $10 a person, maximum 10 people.
Warders Hotel, at 19 Henderson Street, has rooms from $299 a night, including minibar, light breakfast at Gimlet and an evening drink at Emily Taylor.
Louise Goldsbury was a guest of Tourism Western Australia.
