New bar defies Covid struggle

With hospitality struggling in the wake of Covid-19, one couple are defying odds by opening yet another branch of their hospitality business.

Tattons is the newest bar in town, located above Mama Cod on Trafalgar Street.
Owners Nick and Kymberly Widley, who run Mama Cod and Kismet, say it’s not so much opening a new bar, as repurposing space within an existing business.

Nick likens the theme of the bar to ‘out of time’ with elements chosen from their favourite eras including 1920s and facets of a speakeasy.

Officially opening today, Friday, the bar caters for just 26 sit-down guests and specialises in stir-down, straight-up cocktails.

Kymberly says the bar focusses on a crowd that really enjoys and knows what they want to drink rather than those that go out solely for the intention of drinking.

“This is more about people who are wanting to have a really nice experience but also wanting to buy something that’s quality and knows what they’re getting,” she says.

She says a hospitality venue that is in a historic building has something to say for itself.

“You immediately know you’re somewhere quite special. The history is in the walls, and it really is part of that whole experience,” she says.

People say, ‘if walls could talk’ and its exactly what it’s like when you come in here because you know that this building has been here for 150 years and it’s one of the oldest buildings that is still used today. It’s a beautiful thing to be able to use that for everyone to be able to come and enjoy.”

She says the name Tattons is is a nod to another piece of Nelson history.
John William Tatton was a dentist who arrived from England in 1800s. He was the first dentist in Nelson to have electricity, and purpose-built the building at 300 Trafalgar St in 1888.

“He was a pharmacist, come dentist, come surgeon and he was one of the first people to produce his own nitrous oxide – laughing gas,” she says.

“So, this building had been providing good times for over 150 years,” says Nick.
Operating on a first-come, first-served basis, people are invited to wait downstairs for a drink until a table comes available.

Kymberly says they thought they were making good use of the upstairs space for the past six years, using it for storage and as a family room.

“We have a young family and we’ve had a cot set up here for the last six years, and now it’s completely different,” she says.

They had somewhat of a trial run last Friday and the pair say as soon as word got out on social media, they were packed.

Nick and Kymberly are looking forward to welcoming people into the new space from Friday.