“He always gives me shit because I just sat there looking at him thinking, ‘this isn’t going to work; it’s going to be crap, but good luck with it.’”
Ben Atkinson
The First St Jerome’s Manager
Ten years ago, the doors closed on one of Melbourne’s most iconic laneway dive bars. Punching light years above its own weight, it spawned an international music festival, countless romances, a thousand stories and a million spotty memories. Shortly after it closed, I arranged for as many of the staff and punters as I could to tell the story of their experience with the little bar that could.
If you have a story of St. Jerome’s, please reach out. I’d love to include it.
Email
Portrait photography by Benn Wood & Richard Kendall
Story Compilation and Editing by Mark Davie, Sam Burt, Brendan Coghlan
