Welcome to the first in our end of year series of interviews with the people behind the award winning bars from this year’s Boothby Best Bars Awards program. First up, Peter Hollands, owner of Frog’s Hollow Saloon in Brisbane.
At the Boothby Best Bars QLD Awards back in June, Frog’s Hollow Saloon walked away with a couple of big awards. They were the winners, for the second year running, of The Best Hospitality Team in Queensland presented by Perrier — a recognition of their focus on service (and something that owner Pete Hollands talks about below).
And for the second time in three years, Frog’s Hollow Saloon took out the number on spot on the list and the major award of The Best Bar in Queensland presented by Never Never.
So what are the reasons behind Frog’s Hollow Saloon’s success? To get an understanding of what makes the bar tick, and how they’re approaching the year ahead, we asked owner Peter Hollands — who also has Alice, The Alliance Hotel, and the newly opened Shaman under his group banner — a few questions.
BOOTHBY: In your opinion, what is it about your bar that resonates with the bar industry?
PETER HOLLANDS: Being able to sit at the bar and have a chat. I love the casual nature of our venue, I’m obsessed with those scenes in Cheers where the regulars walk straight into the bar as a beer appears in front of them. I think we do a pretty good job of replicating that. However for that to work, you need to have a team that always want to have a chat. Our overall goal, above all else, is that we are the best conversationalists.