When I ran into Jerome many moons ago, we were two birds of a feather. He was the bar and foodie socialite and I was the fashion retail guru socialite.
I had just returned back to Melbourne from Overseas and we bumped into each other once again. Jerome said, ‘hey Kirk I’ve got this place I’m about to open and I’d love you to run it.’
I had no plans as yet and was interested in hearing what this place was like and what was on offer. Jerome went on to describe this amazing diner style place that opened out into an open space and all he wanted me to do was be myself, entertain people, drink and be merry!
Well they say if it sounds to good to be true it usually is! This wasn’t the case when the Jerome and Kirk show began at St Jerome’s. We would literally sit at the bar talk about ideas and drink. I had a lot of fantastic ideas that I threw Jerome’s way and the ones that he agreed were ones that didn’t cost money. Quite simply he would say, ‘that’s a great idea Kirk but that would cost money!’ Hence why our first stage of furniture and tables consist off milk crates and old couches.
Our early weeks and months were as I remember ‘very comedy’ Very comedy quite simply because I could believe how this place manifested itself; St Jerome’s was this cheap and cheerful place that no-one thought would ever amount to anything and suddenly became something! We started with a string of mini bar fridges that hardly worked and a chest freezer on the back room for ice with a microwave and sandwich maker for a kitchen.
St Jerome’s flourished as a meeting place for many walks and fast became the talk of the town. I remember working the door with queues of people waiting to enter Jerome’s at it’s peak with music blaring in disbelief that this place was where I used to sit quietly at with Jerome, Monkey and Skye having a toastie and a bevvy. It was bigger than we all had imagined!