Calling a function in a child Angular2 Component?

It turns out I can put a local variable on the component and have access to it’s public functions. I.e.:

<search-bar #SearchBar ...></search-bar>
<button (click)='SearchBar.ClearHistory()' ...></button>

Apparently the local variable binds to the Component and not the DOM like I originally thought it did. I imagine that I have access to all public fields and functions.