TRADITION onTAP Words: Chris West
Hotel management and hospitality is a way of life for the Cook/Clark family, who know the value of putting customers first.
Dylan and Sue Clark – The Invy Espy Bar
Dylan Clark practically grew up in the Esplanade Hotel in Inverloch, which his grandfather coowned and his parents and uncle jointly operated. “When I was about five I can remember the noise stopping me from sleeping,” Dylan recalls. “I would come downstairs in my pyjamas and hide behind the bar where I would watch the bands play though hazes of cigarette smoke across the room.” Situated on the corner of A’Beckett Street and Ramsey Boulevard, the establishment of the Esplanade Hotel dates back to 1896. But times change and so does the evolving history of the Invy Espy, as the pub is affectionately known. Dylan’s grandfather John Cook is no longer alive and his dad Bruce Clark, mum Sue Clark (nee Cook) and uncle Wayne Cook have stepped back into the shadows of the business to allow a passing of the baton.
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With his parents and uncle ready to ease into a supporting role, Dylan purchased the lease on the hotel in October 2015, a move which ensures the pub continues to remain in the family’s hands. “Our involvement with the Esplanade Hotel began in 1992 when my grandfather and his friend Frank Welsford became business partners and bought the pub,” Dylan explains. “They entrusted the running of the hotel to my dad, mum and uncle Wayne. Dad had experience in the industry as licensee and publican at Mirboo North at that time. After buying the Esplanade Hotel, my grandfather and nan Shirl opted to continue living in Meeniyan, while my parents made the move from Mirboo North to Inverloch to manage the business.” Dylan had not turned two when his family arrived in Inverloch. They lived at first in cramped conditions upstairs at the hotel, but later bought a house about 100 metres away in William Street when Dylan was six.
“I can remember moving,” he says. “There wasn’t much space upstairs in the pub, so it was nice to get a house and great that it was so close by.” A few years later, Frank Welsford indicated a desire to leave the business and John Cook bought him out. “Becoming sole owner didn’t really change anything for my grandfather. He continued to stay mainly behind the scenes and would occasionally do a shift behind the bar,” Dylan recollects. “His style was to come into the bar and get to know the patrons. That carried through to my dad as well.” Dylan’s dad Bruce ‘Keyhole’ Clark is one of the local area’s real characters. “He’s the most known person I know in the world. Not a day goes by where someone doesn’t come in and ask where Keyhole is,” Dylan states.