Loyal Pub Column companion Daily Post Arts Editor Phil “wotcha cock” Key was joining Yours Truly for a final expedition before retirement, after 40 years on the Post and Echo.

It was the end of an era, so I decided to take Penge’s Only Honorary Scouser to somewhere that mixed the ingredients that he has always held so dear, ie, a little bit of culture and a little bit to drink.

We ended up at Studio 2, on Parr Street, right. Its name is no coincidence, in that it was studio Number Two, out of the three recording rooms which made up Parr Street Studios, which remains the biggest facility of its kind outside London. It has also been where some of the country’s most formidable bands, from Napalm Death to Elbow and Coldplay to Echo and the Bunnymen, have cut some classic tracks. The owners thought Two was ripe for a unique conversion, however, utilising the studio format and structure to house a hip, ambient bar serving both the public and customers – including recording artists – staying in the boutique hotel upstairs.

Now, you know this column. There’ll be no truck given to ten-a-penny chrome and laminate makeover jobs that gets the swivelheads in for three months before they abandon it. But this has promise written all over it – especially since Aussie exile Cameron Acott is the manager.

An Adelaide boy he, as Mr Key once was, is aspiring to (if not already having achieved) honorary Scouser status. In addition, he has a sensitive touch when melding together the pub and restaurant business. After arriving in “Pompool” eight years ago, he cut his teeth with the Korova group and then turned his hand to the Railway, on Tithebarn Street. The classical Railway had been closed for some time, but was due for a refurb and reopening. The worst chrome and lammie job possible was expected – but, thanks to Cammo, it didn’t happen and the Railway retained its cosy pub identity while slipping gracefully into the 21st century.

Something similar has happened at the Studio, which has only been open for six weeks, but has already attracted word of mouth attention. Behind the soundproofed windows of the former mixing studio, complete with its massive 5ft by 4ft dual speaker cabinets, is the bar serving Staropramen and Becks on draught. In addition, the stone-cased room where the drummer would batter his kit is now a conference room, and the alcove swathed in wood for the bass player is a chill-out area complete with giant bean bags. Best of the lot, though, is the anti-social cabinet where the likes of Coldplay’s Chris Martin would have yelped out the lyrics for the likes of Parachutes, the platinum disc for which adorns the walls, along with the band’s other million album sellers, A Rush of Blood to the Head and X and Y, which were all recorded here.

Throw in Studio 2’s cook, Ian Cook, who won the Liverpool episode of the excellently watchable Come Dine With Me TV series, then you have a recipe for originality and success.

And the perfect place to give one of the Pub Column’s greatest servants a final send-off.

Cheers, mate!