Yes, one of its founders was a rock star, but it was more than that. A cafe, restaurant and bar located in a 660-square-metre renovated warehouse space in Newcastle West, this was something funky and fresh and new for the city.

And it worked.

The Edwards is partially owned by former Silverchair bassist Chris Joannou, whose family have owned the building for more than two decades. His parents, Sue and David, operated a laundromat on the site for 15 years and retired in 2013.

Joannou, with business partners Chris Johnston, Harry Callinan and Tim Leveson, embraced rather than replaced many of the building's original features. For example, rust stains on the floor remained untouched and the 14-metre-long exposed concrete bar had beer fonts made from sections of the steam presses.

Rust-covered mesh drums from the clothes dryers became light shades.

The Edwards' food philosophy was simple - fire and meat - and the large wood-fired oven was the focus of the open kitchen.

"I always wanted to get an awesome, relaxed space with good food, good booze and good tunes," Joannou told Weekender's Rosemarie Milsom in 2014.

"Something like this that could be a great creative space. It's a bit of hard work, but it's amazing what you can do.

"We want everyone to feel welcome here. There's space set aside for community events and we really want to support people to get new projects off the ground. We want all cultures colliding - music, art, film."

Again, it worked. The venue hosted art exhibitions, markets, weddings, concerts, workshops, birthday parties, business meetings - you name it, The Edwards could accommodate it.

Read more: Chris Joannou's latest venture

Fire sadly brought The Edwards to its knees in 2018. More than 70 per cent of the building was destroyed.

A devastated Joannou took some time out and turned his attention to two very different ventures - The Criterion Hotel in Carrington and The Flotilla in Wickham - with business partner Zach Scholtz.

The Edwards quietly re-opened in late July, 2019, only to close again in March when coronavirus social distancing regulations came into play.

True to form, The Edwards adapted to survive, offering takeaway meals during lockdown and limping across what we all hope is the COVID-19 finish line. On July 8 a full a la carte menu will be introduced, and The Edwards will re-open for breakfast and lunch as well as dinner, Wednesday through to Sunday.

Read more: The Edwards turns 2 and it's the customers who are being spoilt

When Weekender calls Joannou is happy to share the latest news about "The Eddie", as he calls it.

You'd never know he once performed with Silverchair in front of a crowd of 250,000 at Rio de Janeiro.

Joannou the business owner is approachable, down to earth, friendly and an all-round nice guy. There are no airs and graces here. On any given day you're likely to find him hard at work clearing empty glasses from tables with a smile on his face, but never too busy to stop and have a chat.

"Everything's going really well, all things considered," he says.

"No one is immune from COVID, that's for sure, and everyone is doing their best and rolling with the punches."

Read more: Fire tears through Newcastle West restaurant The Edwards

He used the COVID lockdown period to cast a critical eye over his Parry Street business. What could be improved? What was working well? What wasn't working?

A few key observations were made and acted upon.

"We try to avoid being knee-jerky," he says.

"We always look at what's best for the business and the customer, move forward and stick to the path.

"One thing we wanted to do was to put more focus on what the core values of The Edwards were from day dot. To go back to its roots - and that was very much the idea of the venue being a community hub."

Read more: Big wave of support for The Edwards crew in wake of fire

Joannou is keen to re-establish close ties with community groups.

"The Edwards has never been your traditional food and beverage place, and for us, it wasn't always just about the transaction. It was about the connection, really," he says.

"There's a connection we have with the community that goes beyond a commercial transaction."

There's a fine line between being trendy and being pretentious, and The Edwards confidently walks the trendy but accessible path. Everyone is welcome and catered for, Joannou says.

"The Edwards is approachable at many levels. We have this broad demographic that we are proud of and we have always made sure our offering can extend to everyone."

Read more: Dining review: The Edwards is back and it feels like an old friend has returned

The Flotilla is very different from The Edwards, as The Criterion is different again.

A common thread binds them, though, and that is a commitment to good service.

"We are in a service industry and you have to provide the best level of service you can at all times," Joannou says. "It's all about consistency."

Good service requires good staff, and Joannou reckons he has found his "dream team". He's thrilled to now have chef Michael Portley on board.

"We've had a changing of the guard in the kitchen which I'm really excited about," he says.

"Michael is one of my foodie inspirations and a bloody legend of a bloke."

Joining Portley in the kitchen is Sarah Kokkin, formerly of The Barn at Adamstown.

Portley started his apprenticeship at the age of 21, learning the fundamentals of pastry at the Black Star Pastry in Newtown under Chris Thé.

Next stop was Porteno on Cleveland Street, the iconic Argentinean barbecue restaurant where he worked for two years and developed a love for open-fire cooking.

Portley then stepped up to the head chef role at the hatted Bodega, where he stayed for two years. Dishing out modern tapas and bold flavours, he added his own chapter to the Surry Hills restaurant's rich history and retained its coveted chef's hat throughout his time there.

Over the next year, Portley and his partner, Steph, left Sydney to travel and work their way around Australia. After stints at organic farms and wineries, they relocated to Adelaide and Portley spent 18 months at the hatted Africola as sous chef.

In 2019, their son Kobe was born and the couple returned home to NSW, more specifically, Newcastle, where Portley took on the head chef role at the hatted subo.

When Weekender calls, Portley is juggling organising the kitchen with talking to suppliers and staff. He has a week to get the new menu up and running.

"It's all going really well. It's very exciting," he says.

"It's nice to jump in to this big, beautiful venue at a time when it's having a restart. Now is the perfect time to come in and look at it all with a fresh perspective."

Portley enjoyed his time at subo but describes it as "a bit of an anomaly in my career so far".

"It was a great experience working there but there was a lot to learn and I was out of my comfort zone," he explains.

"The places I've worked in the past have been about intuitive cooking of shared food in environments where people are there to have a really good time. Food that's fun to share and to drink with."

When Joannou first spoke to him about a head chef opportunity at The Edwards, Portley was apprehensive.

"I wasn't sure that I wanted to jump into another big role but coming in and having a look around and talking about what he wanted really spoke to my past experiences in kitchens," he says.

"I love the wood oven and we want that to be the heart of the kitchen, where we can play a lot with smoke and fire."

One of the products Portley has his eye on for the menu is a 700-gram grass-fed T-bone from Michael Robinson at Hungerford Meat Co.

"He's going to do a bit of ageing on that for us and it will be cooked over charcoal and served with mustard creams, a nice soy butter emulsion, and some beef fat hash browns," he says.

"That will be like a big showpiece of a dish - a main for two people to share with a couple of sides.

"We're also speaking with Shane's Seafood to get the best available fish of the season, so at the moment we're looking at wood-fired bass grouper, a nice boneless fillet with crispy skin, again finished over charcoal, and served with an almond cream and some peperonata."

Porteno chefs Ben Milgate and Elvis Abrahanowicz have a firm fan in Joannou.

"They're people I definitely look up to for inspiration in the industry so Mike's got an awesome pedigree," he says.

"The cooking style at Porteno's also touches on some very Edwards-esque vibes so I knew he'd fit right in. As of July 8 we're as close to business as usual as COVID will allow us."

Chatting about the Victorian experience with a so-called "second wave" of coronavirus, Joannou sounds nervous.

"It just goes to show how quickly things can turn. I really hope for our sake we (NSW) can maintain the level we're at. It would be a hard pill to swallow to have to turn back again," he says.

"Actually, it would be shithouse [laughs]. Like it wasn't hard enough already, and now those poor buggers in Victoria who only just started to open up their restaurants are closing again."

As for live music, which has always been an important part of the overall Edwards vibe, Joannou says it's "tricky".

"We used to have someone playing at the Eddies two or three nights a week. DJ Perry will be spinning some vinyl on Saturdays and we'll start there.

"Also, we've got an afternoon delight session happening next Sunday at 2pm, where we'll be pouring beautiful natural wine. There will be craft beers and cocktails, all reasonably priced.

"It's about getting people out and about and slowly re-engaging as we get more and more comfortable with what's happening in the community."

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