The challenges facing regional restaurants are as diverse as the regions in which they exist. We explore how regional dining is evolving from Bathurst and the Blue Mountains in NSW, to Bullara, WA.
Bathurst
“Bathurst is so much more than a racetrack,” says Michael Madden, the owner and chef of Bathurst restaurant Norma Joan. It’s an opinion that Madden shares with local publicans, winemakers, distillers, and brewers, who are keen to show New South Wales and beyond that the town isn’t defined by the Mount Panorama Circuit and its busy annual calendar of motorsports events.
The town’s tourism numbers aren’t insignificant — reaching upwards of one million visitors annually, according to Bathurst Region Tourism — but with many visitors staying on Mount Panorama during the races and coming into town only for supplies, the incidental exposure to local restaurants and businesses can be underwhelming and short-lived.
Endeavouring to spotlight Bathurst’s oft-overlooked food and beverage scene, local organisation Elevate recently launched Bathurst and Backroads to encourage more visitors to the area. Hospitality legend Matt Moran, whose family has a 1000-acre farm in the Central Tablelands, about 30 minutes from Bathurst and 10 from the smaller town of Rockley, is supporting the efforts. “There’s a real sense of pride out here — in the land, the produce, and the people. Bathurst and Backroads captures that beautifully,” says Moran.
Photography provided by Elevate / Matt Moran
In 2022, Moran purchased The Rockley Pub. “It’s more than just a place to grab a drink; it’s a meeting spot for locals and a destination for visitors,” says Moran. The restaurateur recently finished the first stage of upgrades, and he now describes himself as the “proud owner” of a power pole and substation, three new water tanks, and 10 sewerage tanks. He expects to open the pub’s beer garden in spring, with a bar and accommodation also on the cards down the line. “With my farm just 10 minutes up the road, this is about investing in the future of the area and helping put Rockley and Bathurst region on the map as a destination,” says Moran.
Like everywhere, says Moran, regional hospitality has its challenges. “Staffing is a big one — finding the right people who not only have the skills but also want to commit to living and working here. But there’s a huge opportunity in the area, with more people looking to escape the city for authentic regional living.”
Set in the heart of town, Madden’s Norma Joan is proof of trailblazing ingenuity in Bathurst’s dining scene, and the community’s deep appreciation of local producers. The restaurant has an exclusively local wine list, tap beer list, and the cocktails’ base liquors are exclusively from local distilleries. The food menu also includes a list of ‘local heroes’ — suppliers who contributed to the menu. The restaurateur’s goal is to support the neighbourhood and local producers while helping locals and visitors alike to understand why the area is so special.
Photography provided by Elevate / Norma Joan
“I think a lot of people would be surprised to find out just how much this region has to offer. Not only is this area a fantastic food basket that would rival the area of New England, but there are a lot of dedicated, established, and locally minded producers in the area,” says Madden. “Changing the greater populations’ view that we are nothing more than a town with car races, a town of well-done rump steaks and chicken schnittys, is difficult. But we will do it.”
The region’s small wine industry is often overshadowed by neighbouring Central Tablelands towns of Orange and Mudgee, but with reason attributable to little more than scale. “People don’t think of Bathurst and think of fine dining and wine, but we do,” says Mark Renzaglia, of Renzaglia Wines. The winemaker says the Wambuul valley between Bathurst and Oberon is “on the edge” when it comes to suitability for growing high quality cool climate grapes. “However, [this] allows us to make wines with a good balance between ripeness and acidity that do not require additions or alterations of any kind. These are the kinds of wine we want to make, wines with minimal input that celebrate the variety and particular site where they were grown,” he says.
Renzaglia Wines is among the town’s few wineries, alongside the likes of Vale Creek Wines and Winburndale Wines. Bathurst is also home to gin and whisky producer Bathurst Grange Distillery, and two breweries: Reckless Brewing, which has an on-premises taproom, and Cosmo. “There is a camaraderie and sense of community where, if one of us succeeds, we all succeed. We don’t have the history, but we have the desire to achieve and showcase the not yet discovered hidden gems of our region,” says Renzaglia.
Bullara
It’s not every day that a regional establishment boasts its abundant access to staff.
But for Bullara Station Stay, nestled in Western Australia’s idyllic north-west cape and bordering Ningaloo reef, it’s little wonder that there are more than enough passers-through to fill the significant staffing requirements during its opening season. The family-run cattle station’s location inspired owners Tim and Edwina Shallcross to enter tourism in 2010 after “the fickleness of the agriculture industry” left farming unviable for them.
For the current season, which runs from April to October, Bullara Station Stay received over 500 applications. Applicants have traditionally skewed to international travellers and backpackers, but since Covid, Edwina says the local appetite to be part of the venture has grown. This year, about 85 per cent of the applicants were Australian.
Three years ago, the Shallcrosses instated Maree Fisher as the property’s pastry chef and her partner Toby Fisher as head chef. The appointments signalled a turning point for the property and “elevated it tenfold to where we are today”, according to Edwina. Now, Bullara Station is part dining destination, part accommodation. Alongside a range of lodging – from basic campsites to glamping tents, cottages, and the shearers lodge – the station offers a farm-to-table dining experience, where guests mingle along long shared tables.
Photography by Sean Scott
“The main thing about Bullara is the surprise,” says Toby. “You come down a dusty track off the highway, and then you get to the renovated woolshed. There’s an on-trend bar with amazing wines and beers. And then there’s a restaurant serving some of the best food in the north-west.” The station’s format means 10 to 12 diners from across different groups of visitors share space at long tables. Sometimes up to 300 or 350 people camp on the property, but the restaurant seats only 54, making for an exclusive experience, according to Toby.
Prior to moving to Bullara, the Fishers worked at Michelin-star restaurants in London, cementing their love of fine dining, before spending 16 years in France cooking truffle, foie gras, and other lavish meals at a private chalet. They’ve brought this appreciation for fine dining to Bullara, albeit adapted for the cattle station setting. “Our menu is fancy, but not too fancy. We focus more on flavour than dots and smears on a plate,” says Toby.
The team uses the station’s own beef for Friday night beef burgers, and sources about 80 per cent of their vegetables from Marco at Borich and Sons in Carnarvon, the closest veggie region. Sunday is seafood, which they source direct from the boat from a friend who owns a fish shack. The key to sourcing so locally, despite being incredibly rural, was establishing strong relationships with producers.
Edwina says although staffing hasn’t proved challenging, the regional location proves difficult in other aspects. “Everything’s got to come from a long way, so the freight costs are huge, and the staff wages are huge. But being seasonal helps, because we’re not open all year round – but then it’s seven days a week during season.”
Bullara Station’s restaurant is competing with the best in Perth, says Edwina. “It’s outback style, but done very well. We’re not that outback station you might find, say, seven hours inland. We’re actually quite current and on-trend.”
Blue Mountains
On a quiet street in Blackheath sits The Kyah, a renovated 1970s motel boasting two Michelin-trained chefs at the helm of its restaurant, Blaq. Galia Valadez and Alejandro Huerta joined the team as Head Pastry Chef and Head Chef, respectively, in July this year.
Having such noteworthy chefs isn’t always the case in the mountains, says Kyah Operations Manager Bobby Corbett. “There simply aren’t enough chefs or experienced front-of-house staff to go around. Even when restaurants manage to find great people, keeping them is another challenge — especially when city venues lure them away with higher wages and broader opportunities. Apprenticeship schemes are starting to help close the gap, but it’s a long game.”
Corbett says the Blue Mountains is also facing the nationwide challenges of increasing overheads and reduced customer spending. “It’s a squeeze from both sides, leaving margins painfully thin,” he says. Additionally, Corbett says that while the region’s charming series of villages is part of its appeal, it creates logistical headaches for operators. “Deliveries are costly, and drivers often come up to the mountains once a week — if at all. This limits foot traffic in the evenings and adds to the sense of isolation.
“Sadly, several much-loved venues have already closed their doors, leaving locals and visitors with fewer choices. Every closure rattles confidence in the wider hospitality scene, making people more cautious about investing in new ventures.” The venue’s unique offering and the addition of Valadez and Huerta to the team have proved fruitful for the operators. Their visitor numbers stay mostly steady through the year, although they climb on weekends and during autumn and spring. Looking ahead, the operators are planning an exciting calendar of events to continue drawing visitors and the local community.
This story was originally published in the September/October 2025 edition of Hospitality magazine. Read more or subscribe here.
