Goldfields Hospitality Group set to open new restaurants Terrae and Babae in Bendigo and Ballarat
Restauranteurs are set to open new restaurants and bars in iconic heritage buildings in Bendigo and Ballarat’s CBDs.
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A new European restaurant is coming to Bendigo, with a historic building used to house the “exclusive” new eatery.
The owners of Hotel Ernest Bendigo are opening new restaurant Terrae in the old Bank of Victoria building in Bendigo’s CBD with a mission to protect and showcase the region’s heritage buildings.
David Cook-Doulton and Martin Shew bought the View St building after they fell in love with the gorgeous Victorian era architecture of the building, restoring it and redeveloping the old bank into the boutique hotel offering luxury accommodation.
Now they’re set to open a new restaurant Terrae at the iconic location in February, replacing the Rocks on Rosalind and bringing in Tim Foster, a hatted chef of nine years as executive chef.
Terrae will be open seven days a week for breakfast, lunch and dinner with an all-day, a la carte menu focused on woodfire and bistro classics.
The new restaurant will focus on “local talent”, sourcing seasonal ingredients and local wines from across the Goldfields region.
“We’ll be working with a lot of local producers as closely as possible to Ballarat and Bendigo,” Mr Cook-Doulton said.
“We believe in the talent of the region in terms of the product, the rich soils here grow incredible crops.
“Some restaurants pride themselves on going far away for the product – we pride ourselves on getting it as close as possible and as in season as possible.”
Forming Goldfields Hospitality Group, Mr Cook-Doulton and Mr Shew with Mr Foster as culinary director, have also redeveloped an old 19th century heritage mansion in the heart of Ballarat into the Hotel Vera.
Mr Foster will oversee Hotel Vera’s restaurant Babae Ballarat which is set to open in late January and Terrae at Hotel Ernest in Bendigo as executive chef.
The cuisine at Babae will be modern Australian, change monthly and use produce plucked from Foster’s 25-acre Sedgwick farm, located just south of Bendigo.
The restaurateurs Mr Cook-Doulton and Mr Shew said they are passionate about protecting the heritage of the iconic Victorian era buildings in the Goldfields cities like Bendigo and Ballarat.
“I love the old buildings, and there are so many of them that are lacking love,” Mr Cook-Doulton said.
“Our goal here was to show how beautiful old heritage buildings can have a contemporary purpose.”
Mr Cook-Doulton said the team want to show developers and other businesses that the old buildings that gave Goldfields cities like Bendigo and Ballarat their character can be given new life while respecting and conserving their heritage.
“Unlike a lot of developments where you’ve got the developer trying to get as much out of the old building as possible, for us it’s really about how do we protect this building and showcase it?” Mr Cook-Doulton said.
“We need to show that a beautiful old building can be looked after and restored, but also have a contemporary purpose.
“If people can restore and protect old buildings, for me that’s an incredible win.
“If you can showcase how you can do it, maybe people are inspired and you motivate people along the same path.”
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