St Kilda restaurant Donovans set to reopen after devastating fire

SOCIAL media went into meltdown when Donovans suffered the same firey fate of its neighbour Stokehouse. But after months of hard work, this St Kilda fave is back for business.

Gail and Kevin Donovans are happy with the progress on their restaurant on the St Kilda foreshore that was gutted by fire in August. Picture: ADAM ELWOOD

THEY managed to rescue a few precious things on that terrible Sunday night in August.

An art deco cocktail shaker. A black poodle doorstop. And assorted framed photographs.

But before fire gutted much of Donovans restaurant, the beloved waterfront pavilion on St Kilda’s foreshore, someone had the presence of mind to grab the guest register as well.

It meant in the aftermath of the blaze, which caused more than $1.8 million damage, owners Gail and Kevin Donovan were at least able to sort out Christmas lunch bookings.

DINERS FLEE DONOVANS MONTHS AFTER STOKEHOUSE FIRE

You might think that would be the least of their worries. You’d be wrong. For dozens of people, Christmas is unimaginable without chilled prawns, roast turkey and baby Bombe Alaska at Donovans. They book a year in advance for the privilege. Sometimes more. A few even fly in from interstate.

So, not wanting to disappoint their “Christmas lunch friends” but unsure if they could reopen by December 25, devastated Donovans staff hit the phones.

“In the first 10 days after the fire, we went through the whole (guest) book and called everybody who was down to come in for Christmas parties,” Gail says. “They’d all paid their $500 deposit, so we said, ‘Look, we’ll send you your deposit back so you can book somewhere else, but — in all fairness — we’ll hold your booking. Just in case’.

“Well, one month after that, not one person wanted their deposit back. Not one.’’

What does that say?

Kevin chimes in: “To me, that says loyalty. People are so loyal to us and always have been.’’

It’s not hard to see why. Donovans was warmly embraced almost from the moment it opened in January, 1995. Diners loved the views, the professional service and the seasonally adjusted Mediterranean-style food. The love affair deepened after a 1997 refurb gave this one-time bathing pavilion a snug beach-house vibe.

So when a fire broke out above the kitchen just before 7pm on August 24, and 90 startled patrons were swiftly ushered out the door, it must have seemed surreal. Donovans, which evokes ease like no other restaurant in town, was the scene of an inferno.

“I got the call from our head supervisor, Nathan Stant,’’ Kevin says. Climbing into a car driven by a friend, he was soon “tearing’’ along Beaconsfield Parade and seeing the flashing lights of emergency vehicles coming the other way.

“That’s when I thought, ‘Oh, my God, this really is bad’,’’ he says.

Just how bad was soon obvious. Metropolitan Fire Brigade crews had blocked off Jacka Boulevard, just as they had done seven months earlier when neighbouring Stokehouse was consumed by fire, and were fighting flames fanned by onshore winds.

“The wind was blowing north, then it turned south. We were standing on the beach watching it all happen and felt so helpless,’’ Kevin recalls.

Was it like being in a nightmare?

“It was. I never want to feel that again. Never. Ever.’’

Next morning, the Donovans counted their blessings. No one had been injured and firefighters — led by MFB southern District Commander Bruce Pickthall — had managed to save much of the pavilion. The kitchen and office areas were charred wrecks but the dining room was largely intact, right down to half-eaten meals still sitting on tables.

“Hopefully, the damage is mostly internal and we can be up and running again as soon as possible,’’ Kevin told reporters.

Gail also remembers looking into a burnt-out section of the roof and thinking, “That’s not so bad. We can fix that”.

But as crews mopped up, and investigation teams moved in to establish the cause of the fire, it was soon obvious that an estimated $400,000 damage bill was wildly optimistic. Extensive water damage had saturated beams and floorboards. Most of Donovans would have to be rebuilt.

Enter builder Frank Rossi. His Leeda Projects company converted Jean-Jacques by the Sea into Donovans in ’95 and masterminded the restaurant’s overhaul two years later.

So, Rossi was soon on the scene and telling Gail
and Kevin, “I love that building, it’s the first big job
we ever did, and I’ll do anything I can to get her back together again.’’

Within a week, Rossi was conferring with the City of Port Phillip, insurers and his own team of tradies. But unlike Stokehouse, which burnt to the ground, Donovans is not being re-imagined. Rossi is under instructions to restore the original. Nothing more.

As Gail puts it, “This has always been our
second home, our house by the sea. How can it be anything else?’’

DONOVANS never really closed down. A fortnight after the fire, Gail and Kevin converted their own home in Middle Park into a temporary office and commandeered various rooms for back-of-house staff. Finance in the study, bookings in the lounge.

“Kev and I decided if we were going to keep the business going, it had to be here,’’ Gail says, as her poodles Wallis and Red skitter through the house.

Does it get a little crazy?

“Just a bit. When we want somewhere seriously quiet, we sit in the front bedroom.

“The whole experience has felt really weird ... for the first couple of days, it was like Lady Di with people dropping in with bunches of flowers. So many, I was distributing them up and down the street.’’

Other devoted Donovans diners placed flowers outside the boarded-up restaurant site but Gail stayed away.

“I haven’t been down there a lot,’’ she says. “I don’t want to be because it upsets me too much.’’

So it’s just Kevin and I who go on a hard-hat visit to the site. The demolition phase is nearly over and the rebuild is just beginning. Donovans — boarded up on all sides — needs a new roof, a new floor, new everything.

Only the burnt-out kitchen is still out of bounds. Surveying its scorched walls, Kevin says: “This is where we believe it (the fire) began ... a flare-up from the old charcoal barbecue may have caused a spark in the canopy vents.’’

New kitchen systems — to ensure a safer workplace — will be anchored by a gleaming new Josper oven with advanced fire suppression fittings.

“It’s going to be state-of-the-art,’’ Kevin promises. But the whole restaurant needs to be rewired first. Is that possible before Christmas?

“If everything goes perfectly to plan ... maybe.’’

THERE are no Jospers around in early October when the Donovans host a thankyou dinner for firefighters and their partners at the Palais Theatre.

Their kitchen brigade — led by joint head chefs Adam Draper and Emma D’Alessandro — make do with rudimentary ovens in mobile caravans. But on this chilly spring night, they send out food worthy of the wounded mothership just across the road.

Everything from mini-crab croquettes and oven-roasted prawns to grass-fed eye fillet and hand-rolled chocolate truffles.

“This is the first time I’ve picked up a plate in six weeks,’’ Kevin says.

Gail agrees: “It lets us as a group get back into doing our ‘thing’. Which is making people feel at home.’’

The mood is surprisingly buoyant and the 150 guests — who include diners evacuated midway through their meals on the night of the blaze — exchange fire stories. Like the couple from the country who had rung ahead to order “duck for two” ... and never got to eat it.

Kevin assures them: “It’ll be on the menu when we open again.’’

“Bossy Rossi” (Gail’s nickname for their builder) is among the throng along with local government representatives. They all get a thankyou when it’s time for speeches but it’s the “fireys” who receive star treatment.

“I can’t tell you how grateful we are ... without you, it could have been a helluva lot worse,’’ Kevin says.

Responding, Commander Pickthall is frankly amazed at the Donovans’ generosity in hosting dinner and raising money for the Firefighters Charity Fund.

“It’s not often you get to come back and share an evening like this with people you’ve helped,’’ he says.

Gail sounds the night’s strongest emotional chord when she steps forward and says to a hushed audience: “I thought I was the only one who loved her (Donovans) as much as me but you guys do, too.’’

A Scottish band sweetens the moment, padding down the aisles of the Palais to the sound of skirling bagpipes. Then the whole Donovans team, 60-strong, strides on stage and takes a bow.

“This is the first time we’ve all been together since the fire,’’ Gail tells me later. “Front-of-house, back-of-house ... everyone on the same page. It’s thrilling.’’

Donovans’ youngblood chefs sense the occasion
as well. “The confidence and attitude that they portray is real,’’ Draper says of Gail and Kevin, “and that’s helping us connect positively and move forward.’’

To build a team spirit, the kitchen has been organising weekly excursions — to oyster farms, asparagus growers, wineries — and maintaining the social outreach activities that Donovans does under the radar. St Kilda’s Sacred Heart Mission was the beneficiary of a recent charity dinner.

“It’s been business as usual in that sense,’’ Gail says.

Kevin nods. “Yeah, insurance is covering people’s wages. So if anyone wants to take a week off, they need to apply for it.’’ But it’s not money that drives the Donovans. It’s creativity. The first restaurant they opened, Chinois in South Yarra, was a fusion of east and west influences and saw them employing service skills they had honed at Melbourne’s Grand Hyatt (where Kevin had been director of food and beverage). Previously, Gail had run Cafe La at the Regent, opened a gourmet store (Relish) and managed a small Sicilian beach resort.

Donovans, under original chef Robert Castellani, took its culinary cues from Europe’s sunny south and nothing much will change when the restaurant returns.

Kevin explains: “The cuisine will still be lean Mediterranean ...

Gail: “Borrowing from France and Italy ...

Kevin: “Yeah, so we’re not going to go the way of foams and things ...

Gail: “We’ll do new stuff, of course, and make it really interesting but part of the menu has got to be about the tradition, hasn’t it KD? People expect it.

Kevin: “They want to see a great pasta on the menu, a great steak ...

Gail: “Whole fish barbecued with a squeeze of lemon.”

Kevin: “Of course. And with our new Josper, we’ll be able to explore more of that.’’

The Donovans — she’s from Carnegie, Melbourne; he’s from Hartford, Connecticut — make a formidable pair and their complementary skills come to the fore when they travel.

As Kevin says: “Gail drives, I navigate.’’

Works the same way here. Kevin sets the big picture, charting a course for how their restaurant should be run, while Gail has what food educator Stephanie Alexander once described as “a clever and unerring eye for detail and style’’.

Enjoying Camparis in the back garden of their house before dinner, Gail gets everyone to test-drive a lightweight chair proposed for Donovans’ new bayside deck. Then, we’re invited to compare the fabric swatches she has in mind for cushions and throws.

Is this the silver lining in their recovery story?

Gail: “Yep. That’s what it is. We had such joy doing it (Donovans) the first time, I never thought I’d have the chance to do it again.’’

Kevin: “We’re giving the ‘old girl’ a bit of rouge ...”

Gail: “Oh, she’ll be better than that KD. She’s getting a facelift. The bones are the same but she’s going to look really vibrant and beautiful.’’

Later in the evening, I ask if they’d gone through
a grieving process.

Gail: “I didn’t, did I KD?”

Kevin: “No. Because we didn’t lose everything.’’

Gail: “To me, the fire’s done. Over. All I’m thinking about is where we’re going and how great the journey’s going to be.’’

 

DONOVANS is now secure and watertight.

As you read this, Rossi’s team is hard at work completing the roof, laying down an ironbark floor and trucking in new kitchen equipment. But despite everyone’s best endeavours, the restaurant will not be reopening for this year’s festive season.

“One of the most difficult things we’ve had to do is telephone our devoted Christmas lunch friends and let them know we would not be sharing their celebration this year,” Gail says.

Instead, Donovans expects to back in business in the third week of January — a date that coincides with Gail’s birthday and the 20th anniversary of their second home. Bookings are now open.

“We can’t wait to open the doors again,’’ Kevin says.

“Because this is not just a business for us,’’ adds Gail. “It’s our life. That sounds dumb and corny, I know, but it is. And when we’re back with the perfect restaurant, we’re gonna love her perfectly!’’

DINERS FLEE DONOVANS MONTHS AFTER STOKEHOUSE FIRE