Adelaide’s very own The Big Easy Group sounds like it draws inspiration from the original Big Easy New Orleans, with its open and supportive embrace of all that is local, or maybe it’s the relaxed experience and letting the good times roll? It wasn’t until I started thinking more about what Managing Director Ollie Brown had told me about the group that the penny dropped. Maybe it was all about New Orleans? NOLA Adelaide … ‘New Orleans Louisiana’?
I was interested in this potential link, so I kept digging. The jury might be out on a single conclusive reason for the name, but ‘The Big Easy’ is always a synonym for the city’s spirit and how they do things their way without fear or favour. Ollie embodied all I had just learned about New Orleans, particularly when I asked him about working for someone else.
“No way, I’d be a horrible employee, he says with a laugh. Quietly, I agree with him. Not because he doesn’t ooze talent and drive, but because he oozes talent and drive. There is a reason Ollie joined forces with his business partners Josh, Adam, Alex and Jack, and it isn’t to continue the status quo.
Spend time reading their profiles on the website, and you’ll likely have a slight cackle. They’re human, and they’re authentic. They want to change Adelaide’s hospitality scene (I sense world domination follows closely behind).
Ollie started ‘Red Trousers’ in 2014 as one of the first small bar license holders. This forward-thinking has landed him a seat on the Adelaide Economic Development Agency Board.
COVID was obviously going to be a challenge. Hospitality in the CBD was a double-whammy. Hence ‘have resilience’ is the top piece of advice that Ollie shares with new business owners.
“Before COVID hit here, we’d been looking at what was happening overseas. Obviously, this was going to be a huge impact, so we built an online drinks platform as quickly as possible. It was still a tough time, but we got out there. We got in the media. We didn’t want our businesses to close, what else would we do?
“We love hospitality, and we love business. We want to be Adelaide’s premier hospitality group, running venues that we can wholeheartedly say we are stoked with.
“One of our most important priorities is our brand and reputation. We work to not overwork our staff, we offer time-off-in-lieu, and our staff are all much better employees than I would ever be.
“People want to work for us, and we love that.”
When asking Ollie what his best experience so far is, he has to pause to think because there are just too many.
“Definitely every venue opening. It’s hands-on, everyone gets involved, and we’re ordering pizza and beer and painting walls. We’ve done it for every venue. And then, it’s like you get to present what you’ve created to everyone.
“Our venues are authentic, and it’s all about good times.”
You can experience one of The Big Easy Group’s venues at Anchovy Bandit (Prospect Road), Bottega Bandito (Prospect Road), Bowden Brewing (Plant3), NOLA Adelaide (Vardon Ave), The Stag Public House (East Terrace), and Yiasou George (East Terrace). Coming soon is Bandit Pizza on Unley Road (opposite The Cremorne).
