The Cherry Tree Hotel has reopened and our first evening in the dining room has us questioning everything about our local.

Everything has changed, almost. It’s the pub the locals love. The toilet where you hold your breath prior to entry. The pinball machine levelled by cardboard. Walls that talk. Charming dilapidation. Regional Beer Week that goes for more than a week. The team of staff that stay a long time and struggle to make a move to leave.

We’re torn. We have our balls in several courts. One that involves a seven year old. One that loves a fancy dinner. One that wants no fuss down the road and an easy pint. One that takes solace in a game of pool or pinball. Another that wants Cremorne to continue to develop into a haven for hospitality.

It’s abundantly clear that business wise, the owners of the Cherry Tree have made the right decisions for now. Shiny, new, and classy fitouts attract the droves, and the locals are a given since there is no other pub that isn’t a further several hundred metre walk away. It’s the substance of the changes that are confronting though.

Putting aside a continuing excellent outdoor area sidled by the street, the sign at the front, and the fact this is a pub, there is nothing else that has been kept. In fact, there are some areas that are so off-script that it feels like complete change was the objective.

On the flip side, rocking up to the Cherry Tree in its new form is striking. It has a beautiful look. The dining room has wine glasses on the tables, and the bar speaks of elegance. I’m sure some coming out of the bar after a couple of drinks think they’re in South Yarra, not north of it.

The new menu is not unreasonably expensive, and has more modern fancy pub vibes and thought. The wine list has been kept restrained to similar pricing, and while there’s no longer a blackboard of 16-20 beers, there is still some better selections available such as the Mountain Culture Hazy. The toilet is luxuriously pleasant now too.

I can sympathise with the need to allow a new pub to not lose money by having the bulk of a pool table and pinball machines filling up space, and I can see good reason for the communal tables outside, which is quite neighbourly. It’s clean and tidy and there is enough staff at opening to keep things moving in the dining room and the bar.

Our dinner tonight was okay. My pork cotoletta is tasty, but perhaps a little over buttered, and the fennel is cooked too long to bring out a refreshing contrast to the buttery snitzel. Catherine’s kia ora salmon is perfectly cooked, but suffers from the oily broth (sauce vierge) that we are assured is supposed to be like that, but it is deep and impacts the salmon. We can see this item changing pretty quickly as it overwhelms the plate. The fancy tarragon panna cotta is both reasonably priced and well executed, showing there is ability in the kitchen.

My key request is a simple one. The change of the brilliant beer battered chips at the Cherry Tree was unnecessary. The cherry on top is calling the new version of chips “pomme frites” when they do not resemble French fries, and have the addition of chicken salt. Please bring back the chips!

Our waitperson is on her second night and she does really well. In fact, the only thing she probably needed was a bit of space. While it is prudent for the management to oversee things from early in the opening, we found it to be a touch too much, but we’re sure it will settle. One thing it shows is that there is real investment and focus here, and we will be supporting our local not just now, but constantly.

I purposely didn’t have too many conversations before I wrote this piece but I have a sure feeling on how the reinvention of our dilapidated local will be received. Either way, it’s without doubt that we need a neighbourhood pub in Cremorne, and support is almost assured. Specials nights are next on our agenda, with some good options Monday to Wednesday. See you there!