Facelift for old-school Hobart bar as new owner aims to create a place where ‘everyone knows your name’

Have you ever sat around with your mates over a few beers and dreamt about running your own bar? Ben Cook, 26, is living that dream after taking over a well-known Hobart watering hole.

Ben Cook has taken over the former Victoria Tavern and renamed it Dirty Pennies. Picture: LUKE BOWDEN

HAVE you ever sat around with your mates over a few beers and dreamt about running your own bar?

Ben Cook, 26, did that and is now living the dream.

The Hobartian and four of his mates now own Dirty Pennies — a new bar at the site of former Hobart CBD watering hole Victoria Tavern, which closed in January.

“All of us have us have been working in the hospitality industry for some time and you inevitably have this conversation: ‘if we owned a bar, what would we do?” Mr Cook said.

“I was at a time in my life where I could take on a project like this.”

Mr Cook, who is also the venue manager, said the green frontage of the building remained intact along with the Victoria Tavern sign because the building is heritage listed.

But inside is a different story.

The interior is adorned with bright graffiti artwork from Ryan Davidson, which pays homage to the Victorian past but pokes fun at it too.

Ben Cook has taken over the former Victoria Tavern and renamed it Dirty Pennies. Picture: LUKE BOWDEN

The name is derived from the Irish patrons who would hold their workers union meetings at Victoria Tavern in the 1800s

“The Irish used to be referred to here colloquially as ‘dirty pennies’ because if you needed something done on the cheap you’d fling them a few pennies,” he said.

All the beers are from independent breweries and the same can be said for most of the wines.

“It’s something we are really proud of because we get to work closely with them,” he said.

“We had a big conversations about stocking wines that people won’t necessary know so you can engage with a new product.”

A nice touch on the wine list is the phonetic spelling of some of the more complex names to help you sound like a wine connoisseur.

“The vibe of the venue is taking away any pretentiousness from craft beers and wines,” he said.

The new bar opened late last month.

This weekend Dirty Pennies and Fresh Hop Festival are combining to run a Southern Fresh Hop takeover at the bar.

There will be 24 fresh Tasmanian hops running on tap.