love to get into a pub. A bloke called Ron Barrassi and his off-sider Adrian Gallagher bought a hotel in Richmond in 1981 and they asked me would I like to work in the front bar. “So I went and worked in the front bar at the Barassi and Gallagher hotel, and that gave me a little bit of a passion to look after people and the entry into the hotels. “Six, seven years later I got a call from a mate TimMaxwell, who was coaching Sandy Bay, and we went into the Mayfair Tavern together. “All my mates in Melbourne, every one of them said ‘what are you going to the backward place Tasmania for? I thought I’ll give it a go for 12 months, that was in 1986 and I would never ever leave the place now.” The redevelopment of the Mayfair Tavern was simply the starting point for Baker. After the Mayfair he spent 15 years at the Duke of Wellington, before playing a major role in the development of Blackmans Bay waterfront restaurant Rockwater, now known as The Beach House. And despite closing in on his 68th birthday, Baker says it was only recently the thought of retirement seriously crossed his and Susan’s minds. “Until 12 months ago, I never ever thought about retiring and then all of a sudden, I don’t know what happened. I think maybe my daughter, who is running St Albi, put the idea into my head that she would maybe like to take over. “That sort of all of a sudden changed Suse’s and my thoughts a little bit… because we basically work seven days a week and we sort of haven’t had time to think about retiring. “It reminds me of a revolving door this industry, there’s no weekends, it is seven days a week. One day just slips through to the next and you don’t have time to think about basically much else. “So when my daughter suggested one day that she would like to take over, it drops a seed into your head and once you start thinking about maybe not working anymore, or slowing down, that then turns into ‘let’s really think about what we want to do’ and then all of a sudden you put it into motion.” While Lucy Baker’s commitments with St Albi won’t see her also take over Rockwall, former La Mensa owners Luke Richmond andMarisa Cairns will take the reins. For both Baker and Susan, the
hardest thing about stepping back will be not having the social interaction with their regular customers, who come from far and wide. “That is the secret I think to doing what we’re doing, we both really enjoy it and we both love the fact that we love welcoming customers in, and we build relationships from all those customers,” says Susan, who will turn her attention to fitting out and styling some Airbnb rentals.
Hospitality Review: February 2022 9 Pictured:Linda Collis
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