Little Betty's is Kiama's new cocktail bar run by Paul and Christina Paterno

The pandemic swept the world and left Paterno wondering whether she should return to Los Angeles to an industry stuck on hold or follow the dream she and her brother Paul always had, to open a sophisticated cocktail bar. She chose the latter.

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The pair now have opened Little Betty's, a sleek cocktail bar that also serves food on Collins Street, near the corner of Terralong Street.

"Literally the day I was leaving I was like, 'should I Google Coronavirus?' as everybody was talking about it," Ms Paterno said. "A week later and the whole world sort of shut down ... things got progressively worse and that was a signal from the universe for me."

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The new venue is offering cocktail classics like an Old Fashioned and Negroni's, with a punch bowl for four people and specialty drinks like the Dirty Betty.

In between acting roles, Ms Paterno has experience at high profile bars such as the Chateau Marmont, while her brother has been running hospitality businesses in Kiama for years.

"Food and booze is our passion and to bring that to people is like the dream and if we can make people happy," Mr Paterno said.

"We know Kiama pretty well and the growth is crazy now, people realised they didn't need to work in the city any more .. home could be anywhere."

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