The Bar Dream Comes To a Close and the Winner Is…

After a month of service at The Carlton for The Bar Dream competition, Pickleback Bar has been voted overall reigning champ by the public.

The Carlton's innovative Bar Dream project was developed to give budding bar tenders and entrepreneurs a chance to have a taste of what running their own bar would entail. The competition was fierce with 120 entries whittled down to six finalists who were given the chance to temporarily occupy the small makeshift rooms in the multi-level venue throughout July.

Pickleback Bar was one of these six innovative pop-up bars situated on level four, and the two ladies behind it, Cassandra Lucas and Caitlin Perry, were both ecstatic with the news of their win. "It feels amazing, but it was definitely tough competition and we heard it was very close, with The Carlton counting every last vote! We've grown super close to all the other bars over the last month, so we were rooting for them just as much as we were our own! We honestly would have been happy if anyone had won!" says Lucas.

On a shoestring budget of only $500, their space revolved around one key element, the Pickleback (a cocktail originating from Brooklyn of pickle juice and whiskey). "We thought, 'what better way to design a bar than to start at the beginning - with the drink!' Taking the drink as the starting point, and with only one day until the competition closed, we sat down and designed the interiors to tie in with the green of the pickle and the golden colouring of whiskey," explains Perry.  Their rotating floral display also won the girls major brownie points with the judges and their customers in a collaboration with North St, Loose Leaf, Grown & Gathered and A Floral Frenzy & Joost Bakker.

Attracting a constant flurry of crowds throughout the four-week run, the girls took everything in their stride and celebrated each moment of their venture with some fantastic memories to take away. "We loved it when groups came in and took over the DJing and created a dance floor in our tiny space. It made the nights on Level Four feel like an awesome house party!" explains Perry.

Looking to the future, The Bar Dream winners plan to keep their mutual love of Picklebacks alive, and are hoping to relaunch down the track. Pickles for everyone!

Image Credits: Pickleback Facebook