Chips and dip with premixed cocktails, Bareno rejects extravagance

Wednesday, 9 August 2023

Bareno was born out of an in-joke “that got out of hand”, Rene Bennett says

In a part of town that’s getting pretty hip with its hospitality, a new bar has sprung up with a twist on the norm.

Vats of premixed cocktails, a limited but enticing snack menu and prices that won’t break the bank on a date night have set the stage for Bareno on Christchurch’s Welles St.

It’s inspired by a period in his life when owner, Rene Bennett worked in hospitality in Singapore while living in a “crappy” fourth-floor apartment, he said.

He coloured his living room hot pink with paint bought by his friends in support of the crazy idea, and it was the place where mates would “hang out and have a good time“.

Nicknamed “Big Reno”, his home soon became “Bar Reno” with logos and T-shirts created in its name, he said.

“It became an inside joke that got out of hand over the years.”

A decade or two on, and Bennett is still continuing the tomfoolery, opening Bareno with a nod to his time in Asia, including the pink walls.

After working in 6-star resorts in Asia and managing the Distinction Hotel, he said he realised hospitality post-pandemic could be simpler, ditching the big kitchen, lots of staff and high overheads.

Bennett has done away with a menu that needs a chef, instead serving pizza and a classic kiwi favourite chips and dips.

“There must be a better way to do it … cut down on unnecessary bits around selling drinks and food.”

Bareno has a small menu where chefs aren’t required, including pizza, nachos, potato skins and a classic Kiwi party favourite, onion dip with ready salted or salt and vinegar chips.

“The food is there as a supplement to the drinks.”

And the bar is “fast service style,” he said where the $16 cocktails made from branded alcohol are already premixed in vats and the beers start at $10.

But don’t expect drinks to come in their traditional glasses; cocktails and spirits are served in little enamel mugs, another nod back to his time in Thailand where they were common, he said.

The music may not be to everyone’s tastes, but for Gen X and Gen Y, it’s a throwback to a time when Spotify didn’t exist including 80s and 90s rock and a bit of hip hop.

“Me and my partner were listening to music … commenting you don’t hear this music when you’re in bars, but you’re always listening to it when you’re at home. Why don’t we do that in the bar.

“We’re pulling everything back to a tongue-in-cheek version of a bar - you don’t need to be fancy, you don’t have to have 100 craft beers” it’s just “somewhere to go and have a good unpretentious drink”.

Bareno has opened on Welles Street, one of the hottest hospitality spots in the city

Bennett said Welles St is a “cool little area, especially in The Welder”.

There is a “great collection” of eateries with no businesses similar to his own, he said, “everyone’s got their own feel and concept”.