News Press

December 23 2011

Have you heard of the new bar in town? The new Rigsbee Avenue establishment called The Kotuku Surf Club (or just “Surf Club” to the regulars)was recently opened by Rhys Botica and designed by Heather Garrett Interior Design.

From The Herald Sun:
Kotuku Surf Club opens: A new bar, the Kotuku Surf Club, has opened at 703 Rigsbee Ave. in downtown Durham in an area that has seen the rise of other entertainment, food and drink venues such as Fullsteam Brewery, Motorco Music Hall, and the nearby Geer Street Garden.

The owner of Kotuku Surf Club is Rhys Botica, who also is the owner of Whiskey, a private club downtown on Main Street, and a partner in several other Durham bars including The Federal and Bull McCabe’s.

He named the new bar in recognition of the Kotuku Life Saving Club, a favorite hangout place of his rugby team when he lived in New Zealand.

Heather Garrett, an interior designer, partnered to design the interiors of both Whiskey and the Kotuku Surf Club.

“The idea, I guess, is that it’s supposed to be a bar for every man, capital ‘e,’ ” Garrett said of Kotuku Surf Club. “It’s really clean, and simple.”

Garrett said the space where the bar is now located is a space they’ve leased since March. It previously housed a temporary employment agency.

She said they used white vintage subway tiles to line the walls, and removed the drop ceiling to expose the corrugated metal roof, and pulled up the carpet to reveal the concrete flooring.

The bar where drinks are served was relocated from another bar in Chicago, which was something that Botica also did for the opening of Whiskey – he removed and restored an old bar out of a venue in Queens, N.Y.

The Kotuku Surf Club will be open from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. Tuesday through Saturday. The drink menu includes beer, liquor, and wine sold by the glass for $3. For more information, call (919) 294-9661.

“It’s just a no-frills bar,” Botica said. “No cocktails, no mixed drinks. It’ll be straight forward.”