The taps might have run dry in Gearins front bar, but the coffee is flowing.
The erstwhile pub in Katoomba has undergone a complete transformation in recent months. The back area, former live music venue, now houses the toy shop, Trains, Planes and Automobiles. The front bar has become a cafe called On the Soul Side.
Operator Dave Griffiths, who moved from northern NSW to the Mountains a couple of years ago for the weather ("I love the cold"), is hoping to breathe some new life into the northern side of Katoomba.
"We opened up two days into the lockdown," he said of the rocky beginning to his business. "We thought if we've got good enough coffee ... then we'll slowly add things on ... and it's worked."
So as well as the short blacks, cappuccinos and lattes, Mr Griffiths is serving simple fare like toasted sandwiches and raisin toast.
"We're just slowly, slowly building up and adding one more thing. We've also got home-made ice cream. It's the richest and fattiest creamy ice cream you would ever see.
"Long term, we want to provide good, affordable meals to bring the whole family to."
Mr Griffiths has long worked in sales and hospitality, and ran an espresso bar in Casino - until driven to the Mountains by the heat.
He conceded Gearins "had a bit of a chequered past... It wasn't the sort of place that people would point you to."
But, together with the owner and with Keith Mentiplay from the toy shop, they are working to restore the pub "and to revitalise this side of town", Mr Griffiths said.
It's a very collaborative effort with some of the men's shed helping out and some artists contributing to a chalk gallery on the footpath outside.
Mr Griffiths is hoping council might come on board with some plants in the street nearby.
On the Soul Side is open from 7am-1pm weekdays. Often on a Friday afternoon, after the doors close, Mr Griffiths brings out his viola bass and is joined by other locals for an informal jam session, returning music to the pub.
"It [Gearins] had a great live music history to it but that was at the expense of the people upstairs [in accommodation]," he said. Friday afternoon music ensures those renting the rooms aren't disturbed in their sleep.
