Bacchus Marsh Tourism Association

Worlds Longest Lunch – Restaurant & Chef Profiles

Delight in the diversity of local produce lovingly prepared by our talented chefs and wine makers, overseen by our home grown  Celebrity Chef, Cath Claringbold.

Flanagans Border Inn                                  Head Chef: Alvin Grech

“Flanagans Border Inn – The Place To Be”

The Border Inn Hotel opened in 1850 and in 1851 it became the first coach stop on the road to the Ballarat Gold Diggings. Bacchus Marsh, as a township, developed around this historic location and its gold rush traffic.

One hundred and sixty years on it is now known as ‘Flanagans Border Inn’ and is operated by John and Carmel Lerardo. The Irish themed hotel prides itself on great food, friendly staff and its old fashioned country pub appeal.

Flanagans offers a cosy family atmosphere with meal deals Monday to Friday evenings, live entertainment on Thursday through to Sunday (in the public bar as well as the beer garden) and caters for all special occasions.

 

Alvin Grech:

Alvin Grech entered the hospitality world in Feb 1994 as Trainee Cook with the Mellieha Bay hotel in Malta. Through his training he explored all aspects of kitchen operations. Ten Years later Alvin became the Chef Patissier making him responsible for the planning and organising of all the dessert menus within the hotel.

Alvin also worked at the Xara Palace Hotel Relais & Chateaux and at the Trattoria A.D 1530, which is a typical Italian Trattoria.

In November 2006 Alvin, with his family, made the journey to Australia settling in Melton. His first taste of employment was at Lakeside Banquet and Convention Centre, before joining the team as Head Chef at Flanagans Border Inn in Bacchus Marsh.

 

Bacchus Hill Winery                                     Head Chef:  Paul Burke

Bacchus Hill Winery restaurant sets the scene for a wonderful dining experience. The venue offers spectacular views of the surrounding mountain ranges and the beautiful Bacchus Marsh valley with its colourful orchards and market gardens. The sunsets from Bacchus Hill are hard to beat.

Bacchus Hill Winery offers the best of local seasonal produce and quality estate grown and produced wines. The underlying philosophy of Bacchus Hill is for diners to

generously experience the region’s rich culture in fine wine and food.  This generosity is demonstrated in their antipasto, cheese platters and wood fired

The restaurant is casual, warm and family orientated during the day, and formal, elegant and romantic for evening functions. Its open plan in design it is ideal for functions, celebrations and festivities of all

 

Paul Burke:

Head Chef, Paul Burke, has had 18 years experience in fine dining restaurants, including the Hotel Como and the Australian Club. Paul has an extensive knowledge of international dishes to which he adds his own unique flair. One of Paul’s specialities is slow cooked “farmer” dishes reflecting the trend towards “ real food”. His signature dish is the ever popular Passionfruit Souffle. Paul is also skilled at using the winery’s award winning wines in many of the cooking processes.

According to Jenny and Bruno Tassone, owners of Bacchus Hill,

“Our wines when matched with our chef’s dishes guarantee that our patrons will have a well rounded and memorable dining experience whether for lunch or dinner.”

 

Angelo's Bakery                                                       Owner/ Pastry Chef: Chris Reid

Angelo's Bakery has recently been recently opened by Chris and Marama Reid, both a qualified Pastry Chef and Chef.  Their aim is for Angelo’s to produce artisan breads and traditional, high quality desserts and pastries. Angelo’s specialises in Artisan Sourdoughs, traditional French Pasties and Continental Style Cakes. These two talented chefs have a real passion for quality foods baked fresh daily. At Angelo’s they aim to use fresh local seasonal produce when available.

 

Chris Reid:

Chris has a long history as a pastry chef in the hotel industry.  He started as an apprentice pastry chef in Sydney in hotels such as the Sheraton before moving to Port Douglas to further his career.  While in Port Douglas he competed in a number of cooking events winning gold for his plated desserts and buffet set-up. Chris moved to Melbourne and worked his way up the kitchen ranks at hotels such as the Novotel on Collins and The Grande Hyatt. As a pastry chef his attention moved from the large hotel establishments towards establishing his own bakery business. He recently achieved this goal and opened Angelo’s in Bacchus Marsh. According to Chris a key aim of the bakery is, “to bring city food to the country and use locally produced food wherever possible”. High on the list of popular dishes from the bakery are his lemon tarts.

 

Keepers Bar & Restaurant                                      Owner / Chef: Peter Harrison

Peter Harrison opened Keepers Bar & Restaurant in the heart of Bacchus Marsh just over two years ago. Peter brought with him a wealth of experience from his diverse chef and catering background.  He started with the Royal Australian Air Force at 17 years of age where he was involved with catering for 2000 people for breakfast, lunch & dinner. After leaving the Air Force he went to Spotless Catering where he was Head Chef of the Northern & Southern Stand Corporate Catering at the MCG. Peter also worked for Michael O’Brien Catering as the Special Events Head Chef, and then spent nine years at the Lobster Cave in Beaumaris before moving to Ballarat where he worked at Pipers On the Parade and The City Oval Hotel.

At Keepers, Peter offers Modern Australian fair from seafood to fillet mingon, and from risotto to pasta. Full table service is offered and a fully stocked bar gives diners the choice of local and Australian fine wines. Peter’s has an ongoing commitment to use local produce whenever possible in order to help build and support the local community. He’s looking forward to seeing you at Keepers.

 

Back To Bacchus Café & Eatery                            Owner / Chef: Nick Prasad

Bacchus Café and Eatery has a long history in Bacchus Marsh and in fact, is the holder of many fine photographic examples of the townships’ heritage. It also has a growing reputation as a family friendly venue offering quality Modern Australian cuisine. Nick Prasad started as an apprentice chef at the venue and after many years of training has returned in the capacity of owner/chef. His signature dish is his Scaloppini and he loves preparing main meals. During his training Nick was an avid competitor as a Chef and won a Gold Medals for the Outstanding Dessert and Mystery Box Competition at the Victorian Cookery Challenge.  Nick’s vision is to be known as a top quality restaurant in the region.

 

 

 

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