It will now occupy a purpose-built dining space within the new Hotel Vera, opening in Spring of this year.

One of the owners of Hotel Vera, David Cook-Doulton, says Underbar's chefs Derek Boath and Lucy Taylor were neighbours, and became friends.

"We realised we had a lot in common in terms of our values," Mr Cook-Doulton says.

"They used to walk past our house on the way to get a coffee, and we'd sort of be heading out to get a coffee at the same time. And then it just happened by sort of natural conversation. I think for us, it was just very natural."

Mr Cook-Doulton and his partner Martin Shew have developed several boutique accommodation properties in Ballarat, restoring homes such as Lascelles and Lyons House. They are currently the owners of the Unicorn Hotel on Sturt Street as well.

For Hotel Vera, Mr Cook Doulton says, the couple were searching for a special dining experience to fulfil a vision for the business.

"I think we always knew that, for Vera, to be really where we wanted it to be, it needed to be alive," he says.

"It needed to have people as part of it. So the synergy with Underbar was really fantastic, and we felt we could then collaborate on building an wonderful venue for Underbar which was in line with what we wanted to do with Hotel Vera. It was just like the most perfect natural fit."

Underbar opened in 2016, initially offering a once-a-week pop-up at a Ballarat cafe. It was almost immediately booked out, and has been a successful part of Ballarat's restaurant scene since.

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While Underbar at Hotel Vera will retain the limited seating which was a feature of the Doveton Street venue, the couple say the new restaurant will be 'state-of-the-art' and feature the kitchen at its heart.

"David and Derek have the same loves in terms of design and ethos," Martin Shew says.

"As David said, it was a natural progression to marry the two brands together, to create a wonderful destination dining space for for Ballarat and the Goldfields, and Derek will be involved in whatever adventure we do in terms of an epicurean offering for Hotel Ernest in Bendigo. So there is a there is a pipeline of exciting projects for the future."

Mr Shew says Underbar will continue to offer a unique dining experience to guests on Friday and Saturday evenings, with a tailored wine pairing to accompany a constantly-evolving tasting menu.

"Derek's has a passion for fine dining and his extensive culinary experience and career spanning more than 20 years has seen him work at some of the world's top restaurants, including three Michelin-star New York restaurant Per Se," he says.

The previous Underbar premise will now become Derek Boath's and Anthony Schuurs Pencilmark Wine Room, with Boath curating the food selection.

"In its early years Underbar received great support from Ballarat locals, however, the past five years has seen increasing numbers of visitors from out of town, particularly weekend visitors from Melbourne and regional Victoria," Mr Boath says.

"With this in mind, we saw a perfect synergy in working with Martin Shew and David Cook-Doulton to offer a holistic culinary and luxury accommodation experience."

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