The Teal Lounge: New Whanganui bar taking off in Drews Ave

Brewer Chris Hayton pours one of his own behind the bar of The Teal Lounge. Photo/ Bevan Conley

People stumbling upon Whanganui’s newest bar are being treated to a vintage airline experience.

The Teal Lounge, owned by Tanya and Chris Hayton, is tucked away on Drews Ave and the dim lighting and soft cushioned booths embrace the old colours and luxury of Tasman Empire Airways Limited - the original Air New Zealand.

Artist Tanya Hayton said she was inspired by mid-century modern style and the romance of early airline travel, which transported first-class passengers to holidays in the Pacific along the famous coral route.

Since its opening in June, curious Whanganui residents have discovered the bar by venturing up the stairs above SourBros Bakery.

Tanya wanted to keep The Teal Lounge small and intimate - the whole bar fits just 20 people and only accepts walk-ins.

“It’s definitely unique and I think that comes from just doing it all ourselves.”

The vision for the bar began four years ago when Chris Hayton noticed there weren’t any smaller tap rooms in Whanganui.

Chris also runs Brews On Drews in Gonville and stocks The Teal Lounge with his self-brewed beers named after Whanganui places and people.

There’s the Chronicle Stout which uses the Devil’s Cup Hell Roast coffee from Article cafe - a former site of the Whanganui Chronicle, and the Manky Cat which is inspired by Wilson, a Whanganui ginger tomcat with his own Facebook page.

Whanganui musician Anthonie Tonnon taught Chris how to make his own cocktails for The Teal Lounge.

“All I cared about was having beer and it’s sort of grown from that.”

Tanya created the wine list with Joamari van der Walt from Joa’s Wines to make sure it came from small New Zealand wineries.

“Chris’ philosophy with his brewing is to keep it local and small and to just sell it in Whanganui, and we wanted to do the same with the wine.”

The couple have used the same homegrown approach for the bar’s furniture which is all Chris’ handiwork.

They man the bar themselves, with no extra staff, and are open three nights a week on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Tanya said it had been a lot of work to get the place fully set up and they were constantly adding to the design of the bar.

A recent purchase was a white concrete cat called Pascal that greets newcomers at the top of the stairs.

She was surprised by how popular the bar had already become amongst locals.

“It’s just been growing, we’ve certainly got some regulars.”

Eva de Jong is a reporter for the Whanganui Chronicle covering health stories and general news. She began as a reporter in 2023.