Melburnian Eddy Buckingham moved to New York in 2009 to manage The Australian, a pub on 38th Street owned by former NRL player Matt Astill. The business was a rollicking success for 13 years but shut in 2019, becoming an Irish pub.
“There were a number of Aussie pubs in town,” Buckingham tells Broadsheet. “When I arrived here, the Australian was probably the most renowned – that and Eight Mile Creek, which is on Mulberry Street in Nolita … but they all closed.”
Nighttime Australian hospitality has exploded since, in large part due to Buckingham and his business partners. Since 2016 they’ve opened Chinese Tuxedo, The Tyger, Peachy’s and Soso’s – venues so well-regarded GQ was compelled to publish a story in January, proclaiming, “New York City’s coolest bars and clubs have one thing in common: they’re run by Aussies.”
Still, the city’s been missing a proper Aussie pub – a place to watch the Grand Final, or the Matildas taking on the world. That drought will end shortly with the opening of Old Mates, a 430-capacity pub in Lower Manhattan. Behind it are Buckingham, Bluestone Lane founder Nick Stone, radio host Andy Lee and a group of silent, all-Australian celebrity investors from the worlds of sport, film and media.
“It’s something Andy and I have spoken about many times over the years. We met when I was the GM of The Australian, when he was out here producing his TV show, Hamish and Andy’s Gap Year,” Buckingham says. “And then Nick and I, we’ve been bemoaning the lack of an Aussie pub [for years] – there were all these instances like the Aussie Rules Grand Final where the game watches and meet-ups were at Irish pubs.”
The site is a stately, granite-fronted Greek Revival building near the East River, which previously housed an Irish pub, The Trading Post. (They take one of ours, we take one of theirs, seems to be the arrangement?). And it has a coveted 4am liquor licence.
“That was important because of the time difference,” Buckingham says. “For instance, Aussie Rules Grand Final, the ball up is at 12.30am on a Friday night here, and it runs till about 3.30 in the morning.”
When the group took possession in October 2023, they were hoping for a quick turnaround. Inevitably, it didn’t materialise given the building’s vast size and 183-year history. When the pub reopens in January next year, it’ll have a beer garden, main bar, dining room and intimate basement bar dubbed the Sticky Carpet Lounge.
Buckingham grew up working at pubs, including Melbourne’s Northcote Social Club. He’d love to have a bandroom, but concedes it’s a bit tricky with Manhattan’s rents being what they are. Instead, he’s settled for a piano in the basement and a small DJ booth and acoustic stage upstairs.
On the all-important beer front, he’s in talks with CUB, Lion and other breweries to export nine iconic draughts, plus Guinness out of Ireland. Simon Drolz-Cox, formerly head chef at Sydney’s Busby’s, Dear Saint Eloise and 10 William St has likewise been exported to run the kitchen. He’ll be plating up steaks, burgers (including one with the lot – fight us David Chang), Sunday roasts and of course, chicken parmigianas – both a Victorian style with ham and a Queensland style with pineapple.
“We’re not trying to be part of the gastropub movement, which has really dominated in Australia for the last 15 or 20 years,” Buckingham says. “We’re going back to the values of the heritage Australian pub … We’re going for good, but it can simultaneously be nostalgic, but not kitsch.”
Old Mates will open around January 20, to coincide with Triple J’s Hottest 100.
“I’ll need to confirm this on the time difference, but I think the first track, 100, will come on at 8pm in New York,” Buckingham says. “So we’re going to open with a Friday night banger. We’ll probably play the radio feed downstairs and then have live music in the main bar.
“This is not bullshit lip service. This is sincere. We’re really trying to channel and capture the spirit of the Australian pub. I think it’s a very, very special category of hospitality. I think it will mean a lot to a lot of people here in New York. Aussies, obviously … but to others as well.”
Old Mates will open at 170 John Street, New York in January 2025.
