In the wake of Bakery Hill restaurant Catfish Thai winning its first chef hat in the prestigious Age Good Food Guide on Monday night, Ballarat’s gourmet tourism is expected to boom and drive more money into the local economy.
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Food writer Suzi Fitzpatrick, who is also a weekend chef at Catfish, said the accolade is “the Academy Award equivalent for a chef” and is sure to get the attention of “foodies” outside the region.
“This is not just something given out willy-nilly, you really have to strive hard to achieve it,” she said.
“This will be huge for them and Ballarat.”
Catfish Thai is only the third restaurant in history to win a chef hat in Ballarat, following Alabi’s in the 90s and La Scala in the 70s.
Ms Fitzpatrick said now is the perfect time for other eateries to cash in on the local chef hat success.
“A lot of people would travel from Melbourne just to eat at La Scala - it brought a lot to our region,” she said.
“I think a lot of that was lost over time and it is only just recovering now. In the 90s the reputation for food in Ballarat wasn't good, while everyone else was tapping into great local produce.
“We had been living off the Sovereign Hill-Kryal Castle crowd and the money they had left after spending it at those tourist attractions would go to food.
“A lot of people will be coming to see if Catfish Thai is worthy of a chef hat. They will stay at the boutique hotels and eat at the cafes. They will rejoice in what we have.
"It’s a really important time for everyone in Ballarat to stop, take stock and realise that Catfish winning this award has created an immense opportunity for all of us to push forward and showcase what we have in this region.”
The Food and Beverage Services and Accommodation sectors (including hotel and motel restaurants) contribute $309.616 million or three per cent of Ballarat’s total economic output.
Ballarat Regional Tourism chief executive officer George Sossi agrees “the entire region will benefit from the prestige this award brings to Ballarat”.
“We congratulate Damien Jones on his vision, drive and fantastic culinary skills,” he said.
"As a destination, this raises Ballarat's profile once again in Victoria's food scene. A chef hat is an accolade well deserved by one of Victoria's finest Thai restaurants.”
Ms Fitzpatrick said with a number of other local restaurants potentially in chef hat contention, Ballarat could become the food destination of Victoria.
“Pardon the food pun, but the world is our oyster here in Ballarat,” she said.
“We can have it all if we want it or we can stay mediocre and keep eating our ham and cheese toasties.”
