David Spanton knows King Cross. He lived on Tusculum Street for a dozen years, and has an apartment in the neighbourhood in addition to his family home. Recently he and his wife Amy – the team behind long-running hospitality trade mag Australian Bartender and Sydney Bar Week – opened three local bars that preserve the area’s long and quirky history.
“My parents got married in the Wayside Chapel in the late ’60s,” says Spanton. “My dad came out from England and worked a bit at the Bourbon and Beefsteak, a fabulous bar run by a Texas guy called Bernie Houghton. He had a bunch of amazing bars and clubs in the Cross, including the Texas Tavern. Fresh off the boat, Dad worked there as a doorman, I think. He was a very good customer too.”
Spanton offers more local colour, like how the 24-hour Bourbon and Beefsteak had no doors on the front entrance because it never closed. It’s classic Cross: this iconic section of inner-east Sydney was a red-light district and entertainment destination in the decades after World War II.
The neighbourhood has inspired – and is a de facto character in – the Paramount+ drama series Last King of the Cross, a fictional drama based on real-life events. Now airing its second season, the show follows brothers John and Sam Ibrahim – Lebanese refugees who move up through Australia’s underworld in the ’80s and ’90s. While the second season moves its focus to Oxford Street, the brothers remain entangled in Kings Cross life as their two younger siblings arrive on their scene along with a new adversary: a fictional crime kingpin played by Lost’s Naveen Andrews.
“A lot of poor people moved in [to the Cross] after the Great Depression, and what came with that were little cafes and a bohemian lifestyle. That’s where people could go out and get a good time. That’s what the Cross represented until 15 or 20 years ago.”
Sydney’s lockout laws and pandemic lockdowns were a one-two punch to the neighbourhood’s nightlife. “The area was already on its knees, and a lot of venues had closed. After that, people started going out with abandon again, and places started opening up – including places that had been dormant for a good 10-plus years.”
That includes Piccolo Bar, a 24-hour cafe from 1952. When the pandemic threatened to shutter the Spantons’ eponymous media group, the couple decided they needed a backup plan. They bought the modest local fixture, waited a full year to secure a liquor licence, then reopened it as an Italian-style aperitivo bar – continuing its tradition as an affable meeting place.
“People love it because it’s maintaining the history of the place,” he says. “It looks different, but it’s still got a lot of the old character to it.”
Their next opening turned was another former 24-hour destination: Cafe Hernandez. It’s been part of the Cross since 1972, and run for decades by a Spanish family. The Spantons promised them they would keep the Spanish feel – they have turned it into Vermuteria.
“A ‘vermuteria’ is a Spanish neighbourhood bar where you can get sherries and vermouth and cocktails,” says Spanton. “I used to go to Café Hernandez and it was so much fun. It’s still got a lot of the old pictures in there and it looks very similar, but now it has cocktails.”
The couple completed what he jokingly calls their “little Bermuda triangle of bars” with The Hook, a horseshoe bar that feels like an old Irish saloon but channels classic New Orleans cocktails.
“The Hook is a step up in terms of size and where we’re trying to go,” he says. “We’re a piano bar with live piano music five nights a week. We’re trying to bring back some of the old Kings Cross glamour, so we’re doing freshly shucked oysters. We’re going for a more mature crowd.”
Spanton acknowledges Sydney’s lockout laws are still having an impact; there are limits on outdoor seating at Piccolo and a midnight licence for all three venues. But he says the local council has become more receptive to bringing good operators into the area. And if someone stays until stumps at one of his venues, there are some cool options to head to afterward. He suggests Jangling Jack’s on Victoria Street and Dulcie’s on the main strip. And larger venues like The Kings Cross Hotel (which has a dive bar underneath) and Penny’s Hotel. Spanton also cites Pelicano, which is returning to Double Bay soon, and restaurateur Maurice Terzini’s plans to open a cabaret bar on Bayswater Road.
Given the area’s prominence in Last King of the Cross, the series is likely to bring newcomers to check out this storied place. Especially since the real-life John Ibrahim, whose memoir loosely provided the basis for the show’s premise – can still be seen walking the Cross today, keeping his eye on things.
“Watching it and seeing some of the streets where we have our venues was quite cool,” says Spanton. “It’s also [depicting] a time when I was around. It’s a recent period. I see it filmed across the road from us at The Hook sometimes, and I take a real interest. I think the area has changed, and there’s a lot that’s being developed. It’s an ongoing story.”
This article is produced by Broadsheet in partnership with Paramount. Season 2 of Last King of the Cross is now streaming, only on Paramount+.
