Temam Hussen has seen a definite shift in Ballarat culture in the past few years.

Since opening the city’s first African and Ethiopian restaurant Cafe Merkama three years ago, he’s noticed more multicultural food offerings arrive on the city’s dining scene – the result of a combination of more migrants settling in town and the growing overall population.

“Especially the last two or three years, it’s really changed culturally, which is a really good thing because the popularity of the city is growing,” he said.

“A lot of people are moving here from Melbourne, and they are used to all this multicultural food and they want it here.”

In turn he’s noticed an increasing number of faces from many different backgrounds coming in to or passing his Doveton St restaurant.

With population growth though, he warns there are challenges for council.

“The council will have to work hard. You don’t want to lose the heritage of Ballarat with its beautiful buildings, but it has to grow and if we are careful what we build today will be heritage in 40, 50, 60 years and more.”

Temam fled his native Ethiopia to a Djibouti refugee camp on the north-east coast of Africa in 1983, where he lived until 1988 when he fled to Egypt on a fraudulent Somalian passport.

After 14 months living in Cairo, Temam was offered a sponsored visa to Australia.

He met his wife in Footscray, where they were both studying at Victoria University, and lived in Melbourne and Tasmania before ending up in Ballarat for the past six years where the couple have been raising their five children.

Temam had a long-held dream to open a restaurant, and when the Doveton Street North shop became available three years ago he decided the time was right.

At the time he said he hoped Cafe Merkama, named after one of his daughters, would fill a void in Ballarat’s food scene, and it appears it has.

“Now people don’t have to travel to eat African and Ethiopian cuisine,” he said.