In case you missed the electric pink lightning bolt on the exterior, The Gertrude Hotel in Fitzroy has had a makeover – and just wait until you see inside.

Far from the usual timber and marble update, the well-known corner venue has embraced its rebellious side with a punk-rock look.

Behind the relaunch is hospitality veteran and long-time local, Tracey Lester. 

“I grew up on Gertrude St and am still totally in love with it,” Lester says. “My vision is for a truly Fitzroy experience, that serves everyone who wants to be a part of it.”

Hospitality is in her blood, getting her start back in the ’90s at her parents’ restaurant, Rhubarb. From there she forged her love of Gertrude St with two successful stints at the Builders Arms in 1994 and 2005, and the opening of Yelza Bar back in 1998. More recently Lester has been known for her north-side venues, The Windsor Castle and Carlton Club, which she’s owned since the early 2000s.

The Gertrude Hotel as reimagined by Lester is a destination to drink, dine and dance the night away. If there were a brief to the eclectic surrounds it’s a Studio 54-esque vibe meets a classic Australian pub atmosphere, yet with an essential contemporary skew. Very Fitzroy some might say. To back this up, think live DJs, secret doors, and a tropical themed bar upstairs that will fend off the dampening effect of the coldest of winter nights.

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Lester really has flexed her creative muscle on the venue’s interior, and exterior, creating what’s described as “a bright, kooky yet glamorous fantasy world”. And it’s Lester herself who has crafted or instructed every detail from hand- blown glass lights from Kensington-based Mark Douglass Design, to multi-coloured mirrored glass, kitsch flock wall panels, and custom-made carpets.

The exterior takes as much of a kaleidoscopic approach as the interior, a lightning bolt marking the corner pub, evoking thoughts of Aladdin Sane-era David Bowie; which incidentally is the perfect pub soundtrack, whatever your vintage.

Vibrancy is the byword here, and it stretches to the menu, where former Press Club and Maze chef Serradan Sharp has put together a menu that’s full of “accessibly priced pub staples.”

You’ll find fried calamari with smoked yoghurt, whole roast chicken served with a duo of pickled sweet corn and sweet corn puree, and there’s cured kingfish with tangy citrus dressing and a good drizzle of yoghurt. Sharp isn’t afraid to deploy rich comfort with the likes of Comte fritters, and charcoal-roasted Skull Island prawns with nduja butter.

Harvested in the Gulf of Carpentaria, they’re touted as the biggest prawns in Australian waters.

“This pub is the 2020’s grown up version of what I do,” says Lester. “For all those that have followed me and still remember with affection Yelza and the Builders Arms as the places where memories of some of the best nights were made, this pub is for you.”

The Gertrude Hotel
148 Gertrude St, Fitzroy
Wed-Thu 4-11pm, Fri-Sat 4pm-1am, Sun 1-10pm
thegertrude.com.au

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