Last shift: what it feels like to leave a bar you love
Melbourne shows up to farewell a much-loved bartender from a much-loved bar.
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On Sunday night, many of Melbourne’s bar community gathered at Black Pearl to bid farewell to Navarre Fenwick, who is moving on after a two year stint at one of Australia’s longest running cocktail institutions.
This time of year is a season of change for many in hospitality, and Melbourne still feels like a city in transition, a continuing post-Covid realignment of our industry. And often in food and drink media, we focus on the new, the shiny, the up-and coming. But this week, watching so many good folks gather to mark a leaving, I wanted to talk about what it feels like when things end.
I left Black Pearl in 2016 after a little over three years behind the stick there. I had been reducing my hours for a while, focusing on my other endeavours, and before heading off for a holiday I simply told Tash [Conte, Black Pearl’s owner] not to put me back on the roster when I returned. So I never really quit Pearl, I just sort of faded away. No last shift, no heartfelt social media posts. Looking back, I wish I had made a bigger deal out of it. Leaving Pearl was one of the hardest times in my professional life. I didn’t realise how much I had come to rely on the venue and the wonderful team I worked with as my social and creative outlet, and, in many ways — cliché alert — my family.
After leaving, I was lonely. As a bartender in my mid 30s I had to rebuild my social life, and my sense of self, from scratch. Like, wait, you actually have to call people and arrange to hang out? That’s so awkward! I’m used to just showing up to work to see my mates. Thankfully, successive generations of Black Pearl’s team have always welcomed me back whenever I need to reconnect, now as a punter rather than a staff member. Nav is one of those people who has always made me feel at home at Pearl.
On Sunday, bartenders from across the city gathered to say a fond farewell. I asked some of them why they thought it was important to show up for someone’s last shift.
“It’s the end of an era,” Yao Wong tells me. “You pour your heart and soul into a bar, so when you leave, that presence remains. It’s important to acknowledge that part of themselves a bartender leaves behind. And it’s a celebration of that person moving on to the next step of their journey — you hope they’re heading for bigger and better things. The fact that we all come together to recognise that, it’s a big part of what makes this community great,” he says.
Kayla Saito tells me she can’t remember the last time she saw so many bar professionals gathered in the same place for something personal. “We’re not here for a brand event or an awards night or anything, but just because we want to be here for Nav,” she says. “I’ve been getting messages all day from people saying, ‘Oh, will you be at Pearl tonight?’ It’s so nice to be here for something like that.”
I asked a (rightfully) hung-over Nav the next day what his time at Pearl meant to him. “Professionally, this venue made me the best I can be,” he says. “I’ve never felt more confident in my ability as a bartender. Personally, I couldn’t have felt more loved and looked after than I am here,” he says.
Nav's last night on shift. Photos: Fred Siggins
“Leaving is so bittersweet,” he tells me. “It didn’t really hit me properly until about half an hour before service. At that point, I was a mess. But seeing everyone over the course of the night was absolutely incredible. Knowing 90 percent of the people in the room from the moment we opened right until close at 3am, it was overwhelming. And it was so busy! At one point we were three-deep at the bar and I just kept thinking, this is so amazing.”
Nav came to the Pearl at a weird time for the venue. Post-Covid, things were still slow, and then the venue was forced to close for months for repairs and renovations. When they reopened, it felt (to me at least), like somewhat of a symbolic reawakening of the whole Melbourne bar scene, and Nav was a big part of that. Now he’s moving on, and so is Evelyn Marquet who’s also been a key team member there for the last year (her last shift was Saturday). A bit of a changing of the guard.
But last night I also got to meet new hire Dan, a brand new recruit who Nav says is one to watch. “He’s the youngest hire Black Pearl has ever had,” Nav tells me, “and he’s already a gun. He has the opportunity to grow into something brilliant with the training that Black Pearl offers. I wish I had that when I was just starting out!” Nav also shouts out Marnie Bugeja, who moved down from Brisbane to join the team recently. “She’s amazing,” he says.
I’ve often heard people say over the years that Black Pearl “isn’t the same” as it once was. And of course it’s not. People change and grow, venues change and grow, institutions change and grow. I would find it hugely disappointing if it were the same venue it was when I worked there. That evolution is what allows people and venues to survive and remain relevant.
So this year as we head into silly season, for those who are leaving, fare well, and to those who are taking on new challenges, good luck. Melbourne has your back.
Around the Bars
Back on the Horse. Thankfully for Melbourne, Nav isn’t going that far. You’ll be able to find him behind the stick at Three Horses, a new venue owned and operated by the Caretaker’s Cottage team (two of whom are former Black Pearl managers in Matt Stirling and Rob Libecans); it’s due to open, God willing, later this month.
Upskill It to Kill It. For those hoping to step into leadership roles, Mix Haus is hosting a Leadership in Hospitality event for female and non-binary folks working in Melbourne hospitality on Monday, October 6th at Pendant Public Bar in Fitzroy. The session will cover up-skilling, confidence building & stepping into leadership with impact, open to all experience levels. Secure your spot via the RSVP link here.
Yup to The Cup. You know what’s cooler than the Melbourne Cup? Two Melbourne bartenders taking out this year’s Suntory Cup final! Congrats to winners Tom Smith from Caretaker’s Cottage, and Reuben Beasley-Palmer from Maison Bâtard. These two will be heading to Japan to explore the bar scene and see Suntory’s distilleries first hand. Jealous much?
Boothby Staff