Wandering around the city centre riverside today it's hard to imagine it as anything other than a hive of socialising.

From The Adelphi to Noode, Cafe Guru to Yum Yum and Waterfront, there's a long line of venues which are now well established – and that's before you take into consideration the soon-to-come-online Clarence Dock and proposals for another three venues on the north bank by Leeds Bridge.

But just three years ago opening a bar by the waterside still represented a huge risk because, aside from Brasserie Forty4 and the adjacent bar Aire, there was little or nothing to attract punters.

"It was a massive gamble for Stephen and me," said Deborah de Vittoris. "We both knew it would be a case of sink or swim and we'd pretty much know whether we'd make it within the first six months of opening.

"And so many people were convinced we wouldn't make it. They were cynical and to some degree I can understand why because we were in uncharted territory, nobody knew if a bar like ours would take off down here."

But take off it did, in unexpected ways.

Oracle is now a venue of split personalities – during the summer months it's a huge draw for those wanting to make the most of the mild weather and take in views of the River Aire, at night the bar downstairs has become a landmark meeting place and, particularly at weekends, the upstairs members bar is consistently popular.

But it hasn't all been plain sailing, as Deborah admits.

"We've had to work very hard over the last three years," she said. "Whereas most bars roughly have a three year cycle in which to get started established then start considering reinventing themselves, we've taken almost as long just to get started.

"Because for at least a year we had to fight just to raise our profile – to let people know we existed. Then by the second year we had to fight to establish who we were, what we were about and what sort of clientele we wanted to attract, which was perhaps the hardest part. And only now do we feel like we're hitting the ground running.

"We didn't get everything right from the start. We didn't think, for example, that the member's bar would be as quiet during the week as it has turned out to be, which was disappointing.

"But on the other side we had no idea how popular the outside area would be and how much that's got us a reputation for our food. We do something like 250 covers a day which is unusual for a relatively small venue. So there have been good and bad points.

"Overall I think we've done well because it's a place where you go to meet.