Your local speakeasy vibe has come under new management. As of Monday, May 15, student couple Jaz and Alex are taking the wheel of Pequeño.
The pair want to acknowledge the “heritage” of Pequeño while bringing a “bit of love to it”, as the bar has been open since Alex was just five years old. He told us that managing the new business venture on top of study is “pretty full on” and that he “wouldn’t be able to do it without Jaz”, who takes care of logistics. Alex tends to “do the fun stuff like cocktail menus” while completing third-year Law at Otago Uni.
Alex found his passion for mixology during his time working overseas, taking him from the Arsenal Stadium in London to a party island in Greece (in his Mama Mia era). Inspiration came from having to reform the entire cocktail menu at a random bar he worked at with “big dogs… which was when I first kind of learned that this is fun and I actually have a passion for it.”
“With that being said, when you hear things like that [on the menu], you kind of expect prices to go up,” said Alex, “which pushes students out. But that’s not our intention.” He said that you can expect prices to remain the same, with the potential for a cheaper, more select cocktail menu to be on offer on jazz nights “cause we know that it’s so student-focused.” They also know that jazz nights get fucking jam-packed, so having a slimmer menu means they didn’t need to hire a veritable army of bar staff or start training octopus to shake cocktails.
Alex and Jaz agreed that their signature cocktail would have to be the Woo-Woo: a vodka, peach, cranberry and lime cocktail topped with candyfloss. “I think we did over a thousand of them at Beer Fest,” said Alex, “which is crazy.”
In the spirit of catering to the younger generation, the couple have been brainstorming different ideas for Saturday events and hours. At the moment Pequeño doesn’t open until 7pm on Saturdays which they think is “just a bit too late”, even just for things like pre-dinner or gig cocktails. Our ears perked up at the mention of quiz nights, cocktail classes, or make-your-own-cocktail bottomless brunches (enthusiastically endorsed by Critic).
This isn’t the couple’s first business venture, having already set up their own portable premium cocktail bar, The Alchemist, which they take around the country catering events such as Beer Fest and various race days. The couple opened the bar three years ago and said that since it has started to “run itself a bit more”, it was perfect timing when they “heard through the grapevine that Pequeño was for sale.”
Pequeño patrons can expect Alex’s passion for mixology to translate into the new menu - candy floss, meringue, bubble machines and smoke guns were mentioned.
For Jaz, experience working under trash management in a pub in England taught her “how not to treat people” as a manager. Alex agreed that they both learned a lot from their own experiences as hospo staff: “We were tainted by that and we would never want our staff to feel like that.” Alex said that they “really want the message to come across that it is under new ownership and that we are trying to make it better… We’re young, too, so we know what it’s like.”
Their first official opening night will be Thursday jazz night this week, May 18. While the couple will be retaining all current staff who are keen to stay, they will be looking to hire as well! You can contact them via their Instagram page @pequenomixologydunedin.