Liam Downes and Drew Harry speak about Ragazzone Good Food Guide chef hat success

Executive chef, Liam Downes and part-owners Teddy Powlett and Drew Harry were already established names in the Ballarat hospitality world before the birth of Ragazzone.

Mr Downes and Mr Powlett were focusing on Moon and Mountain and at the time Mr Harry was involved with Lola at the Provincial Hotel before he left and moved over to work with Mr Powlett.

"Teddy and Drew have been friends forever and they said they wanted to do another restaurant," Mr Downes said.

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He said they knew they wanted to look at Italian cuisine, they had the idea and wanted to go for it.

"Then we opened at the worst time you could probably open a restaurant in history," Mr Downes said.

Despite opening their Mair Street location right before the 2020 lockdowns, it has become one of Ballarat's culinary highlights.

And now with a Good Food Guide chef hat under their belt, it certainly cannot be classified as a hidden gem.

Typically, you do not know a food reviewer is in the building, or they at least try to be inconspicuous.

The reviewer came to Ragazzone for a Friday lunch sitting.

Mr Downes said she did not announce herself, she just came and ate lunch.

"Usually they won't say to you we are from the Good Food Guide or anything," he said.

But after her meal the reviewer came to speak to Mr Downes and restaurant manager Michelle Nielson at the end of the service.

"She actually swore, she said 'that was effing amazing'," Mr Downes said.

She told them they were likely going to be Good Food Guide for the following year.

Mr Downes said they were in shock.

When the invite came for the Monday night event Mr Harry said they did not want to get their hopes up, but thought maybe there could be a chef's hat in the bag.

"When we got the invite, I was very sceptical," Mr Harry said.

"You read the names that are there and it seems like we are not in that sort of ballpark," he said.

Mr Harry was speculating, being invited because they were new to the guide felt more realistic than potentially getting a chef's hat.

"I was like 'geez we might be [in with a] chance here', it has been pretty surreal."

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Since their hat was announced on Monday night there was been an outpouring of support.

Ballarat locals and well known names in the Ballarat tourism and hospitality industry have congratulated the team.

"A good thing about Ballarat is, venues supporting other venues," Mr Harry said.

"The better the industry is, the better for everyone, you want everyone to be busy," he said.

Ballarat's food industry has expanded over the past few years with a number of new venues, each which brings something different

Their latest venture Earl's Deli, Ballarat's worst kept secret laneway eatery, has been described as "very Melbourne".

But Mr Downes said he hoped they could continue to develop Ballarat's own identity as a food location.

He started his apprenticeship in Ballarat, with a three-hat winning chef, and after a hiatus in Melbourne Mr Downes came back.

"Something draws you back to this town," he said.

Despite observing lots of changes since his 2002 return, Mr Downes said the biggest shifts started around 2018.

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At Moon and Mountain, the concept of a sitting time at a restaurant was a bit foreign.

"We don't want it to be Melbournised, but the restaurant scene did need a bit of a kick in the bum," Mr Downes said.

"If we can try to create a Ballarat identity that would be so good, and I think each little restaurant is doing their part to create an identity for food."

The guide could be a big driver of tourism to town, but Mr Downes wanted to emphasise they plan to stay true to their Ballarat roots.

"We obviously would love more people to come visit, but on the same token, we were talking yesterday, we don't want to change for this," he said.

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"It is super important to us that Ballarat people love Ragazzone, because it is for Ballarat."

With a big honour to their name the plan is to continue to not take themselves too seriously.

"We don't want it to be stuffy or pretentious ," Mr Downes said.

"Our service is really good," he said.

"But we also want it to be informal and fun."

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