Udder Delights cheese cellar plans move into $1.5 million restaurant and microbrewery, replacing Grumpy’s at Verdun
One of Hahndorf’s most popular destinations is preparing to move to a much bigger site that was once another iconic Hills restaurant, and take on a microbrewery.
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Udder Delights Cheese Cellar is preparing to take on a new venture – a move to Verdun as part of a $1.5 million development, complete with a restaurant and microbrewery.
The team will move into a new complex, owned by brothers Bill and Rolf Alander and their business partner Marc Cheney.
The project, to also include cheesemaking classes and a tasting and function space, will replace the popular Grumpy’s Brewhaus, which was virtually destroyed by fire in 2016.
Udder Delights Cheese Cellar owner Sheree Sullivan said the limited size of the Main St, Hahndorf, venue, meant it was forced to close to the public when it took on large tour groups.
“We got inducted into the state Tourism Hall of Fame at the Tourism Awards and from that point in time, I thought, how am I going to keep applying?” Mrs Sullivan said.
“We were at capacity in terms of size and I’d always wondered, would we ever do anything else?”
So when Bill, who owns the Hahndorf property, called and asked if Mrs Sullivan wanted to move into the new restaurant, she and husband Saul took the opportunity. The venue includes the Grumpy’s microbrewery, which escaped being ravaged by fire.
It’s a new line of work for Udder Delights, and Mrs Sullivan said she and Saul had been practising brewing at home. “It’s slightly daunting but I’ve done plenty of daunting things prior,” Mrs Sullivan said.
The menu will have a heavy focus on cheese-related foods, such as pizza. It is fitting because when the couple was dating, Saul working as a pizza maker while at university, and they often thought about running a pizza restaurant.
“Everything we do has to be cheese and beer focused and has to be delicious, casual and fun,” Mrs Sullivan said.
Plans for the development are under assessment at Adelaide Hills Council.
The new Mount Barker Rd venue is a short drive from the Hahndorf shopfront, where Udder Delights has been based since 2006.
“We’ll be on the way into Hahndorf and Sidewood have just opened up an awesome winery cellar door experience and Ambleside distillery is also on the same road. We’ll have beer on the left, wine and cider on the right, and then gin and other distilled spirits on the left so it’s pretty cool to have a bit of a cluster there,” Mrs Sullivan said.
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The current cellar door employs 10 staff, with up to 30 expected to work at the new property, to be known as “Grunthal Brew and Udder Delights Cheese Cellar”.
Verdun was formerly known as Grunthal – the German word for Green Valley.
Bill Alander is keen to start work on the project as soon as possible after all approvals are in place, with building work to take about a year.
“We’ve done a couple of other little projects in Hahndorf and love the feel of it,” he said.
Saul will continue as managing director at Udder Delights Australia, at Lobethal, and also oversee the brewing.
Public consultation on the plans is open until May 29.