Many of us would love to own our own bar, and you want that bar to say something about yourself.

In the case of Jaco ‘Snakehead’ Venter and Wynand Myburgh, that means a place where people can really let their hair down.

Even if that means overshooting the mark now and again.

Fokof Bar opened its doors this past Saturday at 297 Lynwood Road, Menlopark, in Pretoria, and Channel24 sat down with Jaco and Wynand to find out how the bar came to be.

HOW THE IDEA FOR THE FOKOF BAR CAME ABOUT:

Wynand explained how the idea for the bar started out as little more than a joke and then came together over time: “When we started Fokofpolisiekar 16 years ago, we would always say if the band gets successful, we should have our own beer, but only ever as a joke. And now, when we made our own beer, we said ‘it would be cool if we had our own place.’ And of course, if you’re lucky, you meet the right people and over time things become more real.

“So, if you look at it now, as we were joking about all the things that would be possible with this band, we set everything in motion. It’s all been coming for a long time as with everything in the Fokof camp.”

…Snake [picture above – taken by Andre Badenhorst] described the place: “It looked like shit. It was this club that got run without a liquor license and got shutdown by government. And the guy who ran it, ran away and there was this whole court case against him and right before we moved it, it was actually a church.”

In other words, it sounds like the perfect location for Fokofpolisiekar’s bar.

About that puke on the walls:

Wynand explained the layout of the space saying: “The venue is three spaces: We have an outside area and then the massive bar area and seated area with a stage.” Even though the band have renovated the venue, there’s still more they want to do: “We have done a lot work. We’ve widened doorways and really updated it; the longer we’ve sat with it, the more we’ve done. We’re happy with where it’s at right now, but there are still things we would like to do as time goes on. The more time goes on, the more naturally cluttered it will become. Which is what we want. We want some puke on the walls, we want some chips on the floor. We want it to be lived in.”

I reckon that will scare some punters off, but hey, it’s clear that they’re not trying to please a Pretoria poppie or meneer.

The food menu backs that up:

Wynand says the emphasis will be on drinking but there will be snacks: “We want people to sit down and have a beer or two and then realise, ‘you know what? I’m hungry.’ So, they’ll order a burger, which we’ll call the Fokken Burger and that’s like R35. The idea is that you can sit down and have a Fokof lager and a Fokof burger and end up with it costing you like R70.”

Snake explained: “I think the initial idea is that it’s a bar first and food is fuel for you to drink longer. So if you want uncomplicated food that is simplistic but good, then this is the place for you. That’s our manifesto right now.”

Imagine getting a R35 burger in Cape Town? Anarchy.

You can read the rest of Channel24’s interview with the duo here.

For a look inside the bar, here’s the excellent Texx and the City, with photos by Henry Engelbrecht:

You can see the rest of that photo feature here. Texx was also in attendance on Saturday, and you can read about what went down here.

Good luck with your new bar, guys!

[sources:channel24&texxandthecity]