How a Pixi stepped into reality

THE BAR OWNER

Before COVID-19, Debbie Paltos had a busy career. She co-owned a cafe in Cottesloe and another in Fremantle, and ran a jewellery business in Sydney. Her businesses were successful but she always dreamed of owning a bar — something she felt was out of reach in Australia because of high establishment and liquor licensing fees.

“My vision was to open a bar that felt like I was hanging out at a friend’s house playing music,” she says.

“After I moved to Bali I was lucky enough to make a few friends who wanted the same thing. One worked in band touring, another in skateboard marketing, another in fashion, and we are all heavily into music. Everyone brought something different to the table.”

But making it happen wasn’t a walk in the park. A year passed before Debbie found the perfect spot: an empty lot backing on to the rice fields on the outskirts of Canggu, the busiest part of Bali.

Then, it took another year to build the bar.

“The build was really hard,” she says.

“In Bali, you have to be there every day during construction. You can’t just leave the workers alone because if you’re gone, even for one day, something will be done wrong.

“And while everything, from labour to construction materials, is cheaper and requires a lower amount of outlay, the quality is not the same as in Australia and things need to be constantly repaired.

“And unless you’re doing the same beach-chic decor as everyone else, it’s really hard to find some things. A lot of stuff has to be imported.”

The result, Pixi’s, is a dark and intimate dive bar with a small beer garden around the back.

The music varies from the 1980s, to garage, to metal, to rock‘n’roll. There’s a wide selection of spirits and local and imported beers, and the kitchen knocks out fantastic alcohol-soaked smashed double cheeseburgers and spicy chicken fillet burgers for $10 a pop.

The decor is dark and grungy with tiger-print velvet wallpaper, black-and-white band posters, murals by local artists, and red mood lighting. T

he ambience is more London than Bali, but somehow it all works, and Pixi’s has a steady stream of customers every night of the week.

“Am I living the dream? During the construction phase, I certainly wasn’t,” Debbie says.

“But now, I wake up in the morning, I go and have a coffee, I get a massage, I eat at restaurants whenever I want, then I go to my bar and work with my friends.

“So yeah, I guess I am living the dream.”