Welcome to Sidecar No Sugar, a weekly Boothby briefing about Brisbane bars and the people, work and creativity behind them. (You can sign up to get it in your inbox each week, right here.) This week, I spoke to Corby Small about her stage at Paris bar De Vie, different bar cultures, and her last (almost) year as the venue manager of The Gresham.
If you have info the Brisbane bar community should know, please email me contact@beccawang.com.au or send me a message via Instagram (@supper.partying).
Anyone who’s spent any real time in Brisbane’s bar scene has likely crossed paths with Corby Small. For the past five years, she’s been a steady presence behind the bar at The Gresham, known for its colonial Australian interiors, extensive whisky program and their iconic Queensland-in-a-glass cocktail, the Sunnyboy. In the last couple of years, she has taken her bartending overseas, taking on guest shifts through Paris, Mexico City, Berlin, Dubai and Singapore, often alongside Gresham alumna Millie Tang.
Most recently, Corby spent four weeks staging at De Vie, a dual-concept bar from Alex Francis and Barney O’Kane, where sustainability and collaboration between kitchen and bar are pushed to their limits.
“It was really interesting seeing their processes firsthand,” she says, “and the team’s understanding of ingredients and the collaboration between the kitchen and the bar to use the whole product instead of using what we deem the traditional parts.”
Back home, Corby stepped into the role of venue manager at The Gresham, navigating the work in a progressive but faithful way. Her approach, especially after her time at De Vie, leans into attentiveness and adaptability, shaping a workplace culture that prioritises both staff and guest experience.
BECCA WANG: Tell me about your time in Paris. How did you get there? What was it like?
CORBY SMALL: I went overseas to do a four week stage at De Vie, a dual concept bar in the heart of Paris. One of the big pillars is sustainability and minimising waste while working alongside farmers and growers. I was the first stage they had. They wanted someone they sort of knew and I had the connection with Millie [Tang, who also works there] and I helped flesh out the program.
They had a duck breast dish with a little bun that included the heart, liver, kidneys, everything, and then served the duck breast as the main part. Whatever they can use will find a way to be served. And whatever the kitchen can't use, they will give to the bar to repurpose.
BECCA WANG: Have you ever worked with this level of reuse, recycle before?
CORBY SMALL: No, I don’t think there is anyone doing what they’re doing at the moment. They’ll make one ingredient with a fruit and then all the waste that’s leftover from that ingredient, they’ll then repurpose and use for another mead, wine or liqueur, or whatever they can think to use it for. They’ll use it again and again until there’s virtually nothing left, and then they’ll dispose of it.
BECCA WANG: What did you think of Paris’s bar scene?
CORBY SMALL: The Paris bar scene was super interesting from a guest perspective. Everything is quite slow and casual, but really intentional. No one’s rushing off to go and do the next thing. But from the other side of the bar, everything is incredibly structured. Guest experience is personalised and tailored to the individual.
But Paris as a whole, while it is home to a lot of the world’s best cocktail bars, it just doesn’t have the demand that Australia seems to have with cocktails just yet. Not a lot of locals go to cocktail bars. The French drinking culture is mostly wine. They have it all on their back door. People just want to go have a glass of wine with their friends, but they just want to sit and enjoy it. Cocktails are so sensitive to time and temperature, you can’t just have a slow cocktail. I think that’s part of the reason why there’s not so many cocktail bars [there].
BECCA WANG: How different is the Australian bar culture to Paris’s – as a bartender?
CORBY SMALL: A lot of Australian bars have this same feel about it, same energy. But I think the culture at De Vie is a really good example. While it is a fine dining experience, it has such a beautiful and personal energy about it, which I have not experienced anywhere else.
BECCA WANG: Is there anything that you have learned that you have translated into your own work?
CORBY SMALL: I’ve been paying more attention to detail and changing the way I interact with guests. Instead of being chatty and switched on with everyone, I focus more on reading the guests and adapting. Some people want that conversation and others just want a good drink and some space.
BECCA WANG: How have you changed as a hospitality professional since becoming The Gresham’s venue manager?
CORBY SMALL: Since taking the step up, I’ve become a lot more sure of myself. I know it sounds really boring and silly to say, but I feel like a lot of people can relate to that imposter syndrome. In the last six months, that voice has gotten a lot quieter. I’ve just grown more into my mentality with the way that I manage. I try to manage the people, not the venue. I focus more on the individuals than the bigger picture. If the people here, the guests or the staff, aren’t happy and thriving then the venue’s not going to do well.
BECCA WANG: Do you have any advice for young women who are wanting to further their hospitality career?
CORBY SMALL: Set your standards early and don’t make yourself small to fit into your environment. Find people that support you, like mentors and allies that respect and advocate for you while also having your back. You deserve to take up space, have a voice and be taken seriously, and the right spaces will respect that.
I wouldn’t have been able to stage overseas if it wasn’t for my team, if it wasn’t for Jasper [Polowyj-Stephen], who stepped up and looked after the venue while I was gone. He did an incredible job at running the venue.
The Last Word.
New Fortitude Valley bar Never Enough opened the other week — you can read up on the split-level restaurant and bar from the Long Lunch Group (and find out what to expect from the drinks) here.
Boothby editor Sam Bygrave will be in Brisbane Thursday night — tomorrow, that is — and wants to know where he should be visiting. Send suggestions to sam@boothby.com.au.
Are you headed to Bartenders’ Weekender in Adelaide this June? There are booking links to get 30 percent off accommodation across the three days, from June 14 to 16. Visit bartendersweekender.com to see more (and the timetable of 33 events across three days!).
