Pequeno co-owner Alex Stoddart said he and fellow co-owner Jaz Stoddart were expecting to launch their new business, Coupe Society, later this week.
The Moray Pl cocktail bar would be housed in the former Indigo Room premises, down the alleyway across the road from Rialto Cinema.
That bar had been closed since April after its co-owner Charlie Chieng, 36, died when the vehicle he was driving left the road and went down a bank on State Highway 1 near Waitati.
The situation was “tragic” and “a huge loss”, Mr Stoddart said.
Staff at Pequeno were “really close with Charlie” and the bar had a good working relationship with Indigo Room.
“Dan in the kitchen and Charlie behind the bar, they were an awesome team and they were very innovative with their cocktails.
“They welcomed everybody into their bar and it was a really cool spot to be, so we really want to continue that legacy.”
The pair had brought “so much passion” to the area which contributed to a “really cool vibe down the alleyway”, he said.
“When they closed, it lost the vibe.
“We want to reignite that, so bringing in the passion that Dan and Charlie had and rebranding it into our own.”
He described Coupe Society as a “low-lit speakeasy bar” with a focus on whisky, rum and high-end cocktails.
It would have more of a “modern punch” than Pequeno so it complemented the overall offering down the alleyway.
Pequeno and Coupe Society were the only two bars down the alleyway, which he envisioned could be developed into a destination “hub”, Mr Stoddart said.
“There’s so many little nooks and crannies in Dunedin, you think Vogel St, anything like that . . . I think the more spaces we have like that in Dunedin, the better for everybody.”
Mr Chieng’s husband and Indigo Room co-owner Dan Brown said he came to the decision to close the business permanently shortly after it hosted a wake for his husband.
The new owners had his blessing, he said.
“It’s lovely to see somebody continuing Charlie’s passion for cocktails.”
