Words: Lara Pacillo // Photos: Jack Adamson
Teamwork makes the dream work, according to Cécile Gariépy.
She’s one of five owners of Hindley Street’s new bar Nearly, where the quintuple split only makes them stronger and encourages the “friend’s house” vibe they’re going for.
“We’re a small bar with a wine focus, snacks, and no kitchen,” Cécile says.
“On the name, it’s like, we nearly do dinner. We don’t sell food but almost.
“It’s nice here but it’s not a pretentious vibe. We’re nearly a wine bar, but we want to make it accessible so it’s not assuming.”
Located in Hindley Street’s western end, the new bar takes over a space that was once home to a vape shop. It brings a more intimate experience to that end of Hindley Street, which the crew could see it was missing.
Cécile, who is also an illustrator, is joined by Tom Paxton and Lachlan Farmer, who are both co-owners of restaurant Stem which sits directly opposite Nearly; former Udaberri bartender Alex Glastonbury; and designer/nurse Stephen Roy.
Each owner plays a different role in the Nearly family, where they bring their own unique life experiences together into the space.
It’s made for a lighter overall load and allowed most of the work to be done internally.
“We outsourced nothing really, besides electrical work that’s it,” Stephen says.
“We have all the skill sets between the five of us to make it work.
“There’s overlap, which is fantastic, but as a group of people, I think we come together really well.”
Chequerboard flooring stretches across the venue welcoming visitors into the space. While this element remains from the venue’s vaper days, Stephen did the rest of the fit out himself — tables and bar included.
A fiddle-leaf fig which is closer to the roof than the floor offers a very big hello when walking into the bar, and artwork made by Cécile dots the walls bringing another personal touch.
The drinks menu is separated into ‘wine’ and ‘not wine’, while the everchanging snack board lists bites the likes of olives and white beans.
“It’s things that go well with wine, but also things that if you had your friends over, you would serve that to share, and everyone would be happy,” Cécile says.
“It’s nice and simple.”
The snack and drink lists include predominantly South Australian products, which Tom explains is for a few purposes.
“I always try to keep food miles down and support local producers — that’s probably the first reason,” he says.
“But then it also works well because things end up being more cost effective, especially from a drinks perspective.”
“SA has so much to offer in food and wine,” Cécile adds.
“We don’t need to import stuff. We have so much already to discover here.”
Being in the upper west end, the bar lives amongst a wide range of people. Those from all walks of life coexist in this space, from university students, to tourists, to office workers — Cécile says they want Nearly to be approachable for all.
The bar has become a little home for the five friends, and extending this feeling to those who come through is their biggest objective.
“We want to keep it as least pretentious as we can, and very opening and inviting,” Cécile says.
“We just want people to feel good in here, feel like they’re at their friend’s house, and have a fun time.”
Nearly: 179 Hindley St, Adelaide 5000
