Respected chef reveals secret ingredient to new restaurant success

After decades of working at award-winning restaurants, a well-known Toowoomba chef has opened his own culinary venture. See the menu here.

Clayton Costigan will always remember his birthday this year – as it was also the first day he opened his new restaurant Bergen.

The well-respected chef who made a name for himself decades ago on the Toowoomba food scene, decided now was the time to go out on his own.

“It probably sounds cliche, but as a head chef it was always my big dream to one day open my own restaurant,” he said.

“The Toowoomba food scene has really come a long way lately and it’s really exciting to see it become a melting pot of culinary experiences.”

Toowoomba chef Clayton Costigan has opened the Bergen restaurant in the Waltons Stores. Picture: Nev Madsen

When Mr Costigan saw the space which was formerly Junk and the Amalfi Cafe, was available at Walton Stores, he instantly knew it was the perfect location.

The new business owner said the restaurant was all about “nice food, great service, but in a casual environment” with the pork belly starter and kilcoy rib fillet main already proving to be popular menu choices.

Named after the family farm he loved to visit near Armidale in NSW, Bergen also means ‘meadow between the mountains’.

Despite it being the third restaurant to fill the space in the past two years, he said he was confident the new restaurant would succeed.

“Restauranteering is a hard gig, but I’m going to give it everything I’ve got and plan to make a real success out of it because this is my real passion.”

Bergen at Walton Stores is open for lunch on Wednesday to Sunday and dinner on Wednesday to Saturday.