Australian Gourmet Traveller - (03)March 2019 (1)

HOT HOTELS

A balcony suite at The Provincial

Hotel. Left: Millhouse lamb rump

with pickled burnt onion at Lola.

Top left: hotel owners Simon and

Gorgi Coghlan and Drew Harry.

From Shivanjani Lal’s short film brightened with ground turmeric to Aunty Ethel-Anne

Gundy’s traditional raffia-woven eel trap, the works at Art Month Sydney are wildly

diverse. Opening night includes a performance by Bangles and Bindi, also known

for their 2 Boys in Saris food truck.7-30 March, artmonthsydney.com.au

Even the caffeine-deprived will

find the Dinamica Plus easy to

operate. Its one-touch function

and versatility (adjust the

espresso pour length and the

coffee-to-milkratiotoyourliking)

mean you can score a well-made

coffee without leaving the house.

$1,698.99, delonghi.com

“For a long time, Ballarat

suffered from being too close

to Melbourne,”says Simon

Coghlan, a local boy and

co-owner of a new boutique

hotel in the Victorian

goldfields city. “Now we’re

really standing on our own

two feet, with so much heritage

but also a critical mass of

artisans and entrepreneurs

and a rich cultural life.”

Only 75 minutes by express

train from Melbourne and

90 minutes (“on a good day”)

by car, The Provincial Hotel is

located opposite the city’s train

station on historic Lydiard

Street, making it a car-free

getaway from the Victorian

capital. Coghlan, his wife and

TV host Gorgi, and business

partner Drew Harry opened

the hotel late last year

after extensive renovation

to 23 suites and a stylish

ground-floor restaurant and

bar named Lola, after the

scandalous goldfields dancer

Lola Montez.

Built in 1909, the hotel

has a mix of Victorian and

art nouveau features, with high

ceilings and spacious rooms,

many apartment-sized, styled

with swathes of textiles and a

mix of antique, contemporary

and customised furniture.

In the open kitchen at

Lola, open all-day daily, is head

chef Shaun Thomson, formerly

of Quay, and Rockpool in

Melbourne. He’s championing

regional produce, the likes

of Western Plains pork,

Millhouse lamb, and Azzurri

burrata from the Macedon

Ranges. The wine list,

meanwhile, is dominated

by labels located within

100 kilometres of Ballarat. It’s

been compiled by Coghlan’s

old school friend Paul Ghaie,

co-owner of independent wine

stores Blackhearts & Sparrows,

and local winemaker and

sommelier Troy Walsh.

The hotel opening

coincides with a campaign

by Visit Ballarat to showcase

the diversity of makers

and artisans in the region

with regular events and

masterclasses (madeofballarat.

com.au).Rooms from $160.

121 Lydiard St N, Ballarat,

Vic, (03) 5331 3399,

theprovincialballarat.com.au

The new gold rush

A new boutique hotel and an artisans’

campaign shine the spotlight on Ballarat.

18 GOURMET TRAVELLER

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