editorial

A former Australian gold-mining town is being reborn as a creative and gourmet hub.
<figure id="attachment_137710" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-137710" style="width: 1200px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-137710 size-full" src="https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Grainery-Lane-14-1.jpg" alt="Pouring cocktails at Grainery Lane; one of the seven suites at Hotel Vera." width="1200" height="894" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-137710" class="wp-caption-text">Left to right: One of the seven suites at Hotel Vera; pouring cocktails at Grainery Lane. (Photos: Matt Dunne; courtesy of Grainery Lane)</figcaption></figure>
It is a city built on riches. Ballarat was at the center of Australia’s gold rush, and during those heady days, thousands of people arrived to seek their fortune. Many did get rich; in 1856 alone, close to two million kilograms of gold were extracted here.
Today, many of the grand buildings from that era are being repurposed. Some are in the hands of a new influx of arrivals, drawn here by the lower cost of housing. (It helps that Ballarat, which sits in the Central Highlands of the state of Victoria, is only 90 minutes from downtown Melbourne by train or car.) Others are being transformed by long-term residents, energized by this wave of fresh inspiration.
Among the people who’ve long established Ballarat as their home are David Cook-Doulton and Martin Shew, the owners of <a href="http://hotelballarat.com.au" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hotel Vera</a> (from US$195 a night). The pair have transformed a former doctor’s surgery and residence, built in 1893, into seven luxurious suites, each with its own bold color scheme and pieces of contemporary art. “We’ve preserved the heritage elements of the building and inserted a modern aesthetic through the decor,” Cook-Doulton says.
Downstairs at <a href="https://hotelballarat.com.au/babae/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Babae</a>, chef Tim Foster and his small team create eight courses of wonder, with much of the produce harvested from his own farm. On my January visit, the seasonal tasting menu includes a delicate steamed pea custard with zucchini flower tempura, and brined and roasted duck breast with a confit-leg dumpling, pureed eggplant, and pickled cherries.
After months of searching for the perfect country pub, Melburnians Pete Dillon and his chef-partner Jigs Liwanag happened across <a href="https://www.hotelcanberra.au/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hotel Canberra</a> (from US$145 a night). “It chose us really,” says Dillon of the 19th-century establishment. They stripped it back to reveal art deco detailing and launched in stages as they renovated. Now, there’s a popular café in the old stables, a bar, accommodation, and fine-dining restaurant Vesta x Jigs, where the degustation menu changes every couple of weeks.
<figure id="attachment_137708" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-137708" style="width: 1200px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-137708 size-full" src="https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Vera.25.11.22_0329-1.jpg" alt="A prawn cocktail à la Vesta x Jigs at Hotel Canberra; the 19th-century facade of Hotel Vera." width="1200" height="894" srcset="https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Vera.25.11.22_0329-1.jpg 1200w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Vera.25.11.22_0329-1-300x224.jpg 300w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Vera.25.11.22_0329-1-1024x763.jpg 1024w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Vera.25.11.22_0329-1-768x572.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-137708" class="wp-caption-text">Left to right: A prawn cocktail à la Vesta x Jigs at Hotel Canberra; the 19th-century facade of Hotel Vera. (Courtesy of Hotel Canberra; courtesy of Hotel Vera)</figcaption></figure>
Ballarat’s distillers are making waves too. Next to the old train station inside a smartly converted bluestone freight depot called The Goods Shed, <a href="http://itinerantspirits.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Itinerant Spirits</a> turns out vodka, gin, and whisky (although the latter is still a couple of years off) from grains sourced solely from western Victoria. The botanicals used in its citrusy Gallivanter Gin include roasted wattle seed and lemon drop waxflower from the Grampians Range to the west. No expense has been spared fitting out the tasting room, where you can sample flights, cocktails, local beers and wines, and sharing plates.
Speaking of expensive interiors, local hospitality veteran Brian Taylor has long been fascinated by the saloon bars of the American West. While he was building his distillery and cocktail bar <a href="http://grainerylane.com.au" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Grainery Lane</a>, he decided it needed one. Taylor eventually tracked down an antique triple-arch Brunswick back bar and had it shipped from Chicago, alongside another single-arch bar. Hand-carved from mahogany, they are the jewels in this venue’s crown. “The only ones in Australia,” Taylor tells me proudly. Admire them while sipping an Apple Pie (green apple gin, butter, lemon juice, homemade tropical syrup, cinnamon, star anise, and vegan foam) from the bar’s extensive list.
In 2022, chef Liam Downes was juggling five restaurants in Ballarat. But with two young sons and a wife who’d worked as a nurse during Covid, he knew it was time to reevaluate things. So last year, he dropped it all and took over the management of <a href="https://blackcattruffles.au/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Black Cat Truffles</a>, an eight-hectare truffle farm with 1,200 French and English oak trees. Guests can join summer or winter truffle hunts, where a morning forage with Downes and Dot, his Gordon setter–cocker spaniel cross, is followed by a six-course meal in the shade of a black walnut tree. Dishes might include beetroot carpaccio with bone marrow and truffle, and beef tenderloin with truffled potato and bordelaise.
<figure id="attachment_137707" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-137707" style="width: 1200px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-137707 size-full" src="https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/IMGL1839.jpg" alt="Main street Ballarat; Beef tenderloin with truffled potato and bordelaise sauce at Black Cat Truffles." width="1200" height="894" srcset="https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/IMGL1839.jpg 1200w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/IMGL1839-300x224.jpg 300w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/IMGL1839-1024x763.jpg 1024w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/IMGL1839-768x572.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-137707" class="wp-caption-text">Left to right: Main street Ballarat; beef tenderloin with truffled potato and bordelaise sauce at Black Cat Truffles. (Photos: Matt Dunne; courtesy of Black Cat Truffles)</figcaption></figure>
Another of Ballarat’s most exciting launches has nothing to do with food. The <a href="http://raretradescentre.com.au" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Centre for Rare Arts and Forgotten Trades</a> offers weekend workshops in trades and crafts as diverse as armory, traditional sign-writing, and dry-stone walling.
“In the first 12 months, we delivered workshops to over 700 participants, 70 percent of whom came from outside the region,” says general manager Erin Santamaria. The plan, however, is to expand the offering and support resident artists.
If you’ve ever wanted to keep the skill of plaiting leather or spinning wool alive, then Ballarat is the right place for you.
This article originally appeared in the <a href="https://www.destinasian.com/magazine" target="_blank" rel="noopener">March/May 2024</a> print issue of DestinAsian magazine (“All That Glitters”).

The 19th-century facade of Hotel Vera in Ballarat.

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