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Enter Salut Salut, an intimate hole-in-the-wall Spanish wine bar. Despite its cosiness, Salut Salut has an impressive range of wines as well as a handful of spirits and predominantly NZ beers.
It’s Saturday night around 11pm, and you’re elbow-deep in Pornstar and Espresso martinis. You’re an integral part of everyone else’s amazing weekend out, and the only thing getting you through the shift is looking forward to that post-shift-drink. This raises the question for us fellow bartenders - ‘Where do we go on our weekend?’ in which our ‘weekend,’ let’s be honest, is either early or mid-week. Does your weekend spot consist of a DJ smashing out tunes from a monstrous speaker stack with a Pals in hand? Or do you prefer a high brow speakeasy cocktail bar where you can sip on a Sazerac ? Or perhaps you’re a no-fuss lad who likes a low key five-star dive bar with a beer and a shot.
When it comes to my weekend spots, my main objective is escapism. I need a comfortable spot that’s not too busy or too quiet where I don’t have to turn on my reflex service face and instead, become the customer myself.
Enter Salut Salut, an intimate hole-in-the-wall Spanish wine bar. Despite its cosiness, Salut Salut has an impressive range of wines as well as a handful of spirits and predominantly NZ beers. Taking inspiration from wine bars throughout Europe, it emulates that tiny hidden Spanish wine bar well, from the cosy fireplace inside to the wine barrel leaners. Don’t get me started on the mad delicious variety of tapas, snacks, cheeses and cured meats. So hawt damn good!!
There are two main things I love about this bar. First, anyone who knows me, knows I know a lot of people. Whether it's a friend or regular customer, anywhere I go, I’m constantly breaking conversation to greet someone walking past or waving at someone driving past - it’s who I am. At Salut Salut, I don’t bump into people as much. I can have a whole conversation with whoever I’m with, without having to repeat the same thought. It’s my perfect little sanctuary for some ‘me’ time and it's what’s needed in hospitality. We all need that break from putting on our work face to re-energise and fill our own cups.
The second thing that’s amazing about Salut Salut, is the owner and operator, Tessa. I’ve been lucky enough to have worked with Tessa before at a previous workplace, and her work ethic is undeniably epic. From working on superyachts to returning to Christchurch in the last 10 years and running wine bars shortly after her return, it takes a special human being to be able to run a small business all while keeping service and product quality high, and maintaining a consistently good energy within the place. That’s her to a T.
And when it comes to delivering to your taste buds' needs, 2 to 3 wine tasters will be served to match the description of your style and flavour preference. Tasting notes are rattled off to you but it will be relayed in a way that is understandable, as opposed to a hoity toity wine bar where their explanations are full of wine jargon that you’ve never heard of before. For a person who plays predominantly with spirits, I love that I can learn about wine in layman’s terms. Any speciality bar can be quite daunting, but the welcoming element of Tessa and her staff de-escalates that scariness. I have been in hospitality for many moons, so to see someone else who’s as passionate about wine as I am with cocktails and spirits is so refreshing!
If you’re ever in Otautahi during the week, and you think you see me in Salut Salut, it's definitely not me. Same hat, same beard, but for real - not me. Buy that guy a Margrain Chenin Blanc, and watch him. He doesn't drink it like me at all.
Born from passion and nurtured with love, this delicious spirit is the brainchild of two visionary co-founders, Stephanie Jordan being one of them. As she sat in a charming café in Amsterdam chatting with me via Google Meet, her eyes sparkled with pride and excitement as she delved into the story of her beloved "baby," Avallen.
Enter Salut Salut, an intimate hole-in-the-wall Spanish wine bar. Despite its cosiness, Salut Salut has an impressive range of wines as well as a handful of spirits and predominantly NZ beers.
Cal Ross is the friendly face that greets you the second you walk into Parasol and Swing, or the wine pop-up downstairs, Brolly. His cheeky British banter and contagious laugh has gained him a reputation for impeccable customer service, which ended up winning him the Lewisham Award for Outstanding FOH for 2023. I sat down with him with a cocktail in my hand, as we often do, to ask about his past, present, and future in our thriving industry.