A few things immediately grab your attention: the dim lighting, the pumping music escaping onto the front porch, the continuous chatter from guests, the somehow familiar warmth of the place… much like you’ve just turned up to a friend’s place on a Friday night, an hour deep into the party. To your left, you’ll find the bar, which also doubles as their DJ booth— that creative problem-solving in action.

“We have two stations,” explains Uldis Libecans. “One person takes all of the orders, all of the payments, serves all the beers, and then one person makes all the cocktails and DJs at the same time.” Apart from their stints at Black Pearl, another one of Melbourne’s famed cocktail bars, the three partners share another thing in common: they are all music-obsessed. “And it’s all records,” Uldis Libecans continues. “There are like 5000 records.”

There are a couple of seats at the counter (the best seats in the house for those who like to get friendly with the bartenders or be close to the action), and a noticeable absence of tables. Save for that room to the right, which offers plush leather seating in a moodier, more mature space, seats at this pub pretty much consist of a ledge and stool, wherever they could fit it: by the front door, across the windows, the narrow corridor by the staircase, and wrapping around that first room. Creative problem-solving.

See also: Umami Mania: 4 savoury cocktail recipes by top bartenders in the Philippines

Their beverages further exemplify their straightforward approach: Guinness on tap, craft beers and wines, zero-ABV choices, and a lean but well-curated list of cocktails. Three classics, three contemporary drinks, one milk punch, and the house martini served straight from the freezer, with your choice of garnish— just eight cocktails total. 

But these seasoned bartenders will be the first to tell you, the bar experience is not about the drinks. “It’s always been about the people first,” Stirling imparts, underscoring the importance of hospitality. “They don’t need to come out, you need to make them want to,” he continues. “You have to reward someone for coming to support you by facilitating a time that makes them feel great.”

Read all about their people-first approach, the language of lowering expectations, and the importance of sleep, below.

In case you missed it: Jigger and Pony: How a hospitality-first mindset made this Singapore bar one of the world’s best

How did it feel for a small outfit like yours to break into the global stage within your first year of operations back in 2022? 

Matt Stirling (MS): It’s just amazing feedback. It’s really nice— reaffirming, I guess. We just set out to open a business. We had a lot of confidence that it would be a successful business, but [the real challenge] was always going to be communicating what we were about. That didn’t really take much in the end, because we’ve always talked about ourselves as being a pub.

You refer to Caretaker’s Cottage as a pub. Can you talk more about that concept? Why differentiate yourself as pub? 

Rob Uldis Libecans (RUL): The language of that just relaxes people. If you say, “This is a World’s 50 Best bar,” that’s the expectation, that’s the baseline. But if you say to people, “This is a pub”, people treat it a little bit differently. People bring their dogs— there’s like always ten dogs running around. People bring their kids. It lowers the expectations, so we can raise them again with what we do, with our services, drinks, music. It’s that one word that just lowers people’s heart rates a little.

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What is it like operating a pub in Melbourne?

MS: It’s a very developed market.The audience is very aware. Everyone has high expectations. The food is incredible, everything is pretty amazing. It’s such a new city that has not been around for long enough for things to fall by the wayside. Everyone’s very engaged in their local businesses, bars, restaurants, cafés. I’ve sometimes described Melbourne as a lucky city— we were the most locked-down city through COVID, but for the businesses that have pushed on, been it’s great because they’ve got the community rallied around them. People are really invested in their story, their business, their content. So it’s just a really rewarding spot. We are better because people demand us to be.

Why the focus on music?

RUL: All of us are music-obsessed. I’ve been buying records for 15-16 years. So having an old building and having an analogue set-up… I’m just going to say it, we spent 30 per cent of our budget just on the sound system. (Laughs.) It’s a tiny room with a sound system built for a festival! It’s excessive, and it’s imposing, but it also adds to the feel.

MS: We gave the architect our budget, then we took it back, scratched off a number and gave it back to him and he was like, "What was that about"?

RUL: We said "Oh don’t worry about it!" (Laughs.) He said "No you can’t do that" and I said, "Well I’ve done it." 

Read more: Stop, Look, Listen: The resurgence of vinyl and sound systems as the heart of our shared spaces

You’ve both worked in many F&B establishments before and now have your own bar. What’s the one value that you’ve carried with you from all those experiences?

RUL: It’s not the drinks. You can get better drinks probably anywhere. But what you can’t get is the staff service, and that’s something that we developed by working in different places together. Sure, it’s a beautiful building, 100 per cent, but the way we interact with guests, the way we treat people...

MS: It’s always been about the people first. They don’t need to come out, you need to make them want to. Ultimately, we’re operating in a space of luxury. So people want to come out. In Australia, it’s not particularly user-friendly to go out at the moment. It’s sort of tough times. So we’re super grateful when we see people, and we have to reward them. You have to reward someone for coming to support you by facilitating a time that makes them feel great.

RUL: We also have what we call “downtime connections”. So when we’ve got like, five, ten minutes where it’s not busy, one person goes into a role of like restocking, and two staff members go and talk to everybody in the middle “Hey, how’s it going? Is it your first time here? Are you travelling through Melbourne? Do you live here? Do you want a recommendation? What are you up to tonight?” Even if it’s just a two-minute conversation.

MS: When you leave, it feels like you’ve just come out of a house party— there’s a sense of relief, but also a feeling of “I really want to go back”.

Read more: What makes a standout bar? The Curator and The Back Room share industry insights

Can you elaborate on that point you just made— ”In Australia, it’s not particularly user-friendly”... you’re referring to? Cost of living?

MS: Economic, yeah. The cost of living is challenging. But I guess something that’s inadvertently been really useful for us is being a pub. Some people say “If you’re in a recession, buy a pub, because people never give up going to the pub.” (Laughs.) [Calling ourselves a pub] is an amazing way to communicate the identity of the concept and all that kind of stuff, but also, it’s a gateway proposition. In their mind, they always sort of go “Oh, I’ll go for just a beer”, and then they stay for so much more.

What’s something you now know is important, that you wish you had known when you first started in the industry?

RUL: Sleep! (Laughs.)

MS: I don’t think there’s anything we didn’t know, but we’ve gotten affirmation of what we’ve always known is important—which is, like Rob said, looking after yourself. It’s a holistic mindset: look after yourself, so you can look after your business.

RUL: Also, the industry is changing. We’ve been working in hospitality for over 20 years each, and it has changed so much. The way we were trained is not how you should treat anybody. We’ve worked with some people that we have learned so much from, negatively, in that we’ve overextended in the other direction because we never want to be that person. We want to create an environment that was never afforded to us.

See also: One of Australia’s top winemakers on climate change and the allure of medium-bodied wines

What’s next for you in the coming year?

MS: At the moment I think Caretaker’s Cottage is just about maintaining our standards and continuing to operate that business. I think if we pursue other things, that will only be if and when the time’s right. And when we do find a new spot that might suit, we won’t open another Caretaker’s Cottage. That’s its own thing. We developed the concept for the opportunity.

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On the 17th of October 2023, over 1000 luminaries behind the world’s greatest bars gathered in Singapore for the awarding of The World’s 50 Best Bars 2023. That morning, hours before the big reveal, select media outlets were invited to an exclusive Meet the Bartenders roundtable interview session—the very first of its kind. Tatler Philippines was granted the unique and valuable opportunity to pick the brains of these industry leaders as the only Philippine publication in attendance.

Tatler Philippines travelled to Singapore with the Singapore Tourism Board. To learn more, check out @visit_singapore on Instagram, #visitsingapore  #passionmadepossible.