Freshly-baked cafe for Barkly Square

IT’S the heart of a community hub, and it’s entering a new, delicious era.

Following last week’s closure of social enterprise A Pot of Courage, management at Barkly Square has announced 1816 Bakehouse as their new cafe tenant.

1816’s head baker and director Josh Chapman said it’s not just a chance to expand, but to support other businesses and organisations in the building in the process.

“There is also the potential to offer hospitality training and experience for clients of BGT Jobs and Training,” he said.

“We had the Global Market here on Friday night and people were engaged and very excited.”

Although centre management and tenants have been saddened by the closure of A Pot of Courage, a statement said everyone calling Barkly Square home is happy to have a solid alternative.

“A Pot of Courage has embodied many of the values that both BGT Jobs + Training and Barkly Square hold close,” the statement said.

“Our sincere hope is that A Pot of Courage will find a way to re-emerge in the future in a catering capacity.

“That said, we are very pleased to announce 1816 Bakehouse is taking over as the new operator, trading as Barkly Square Cafe by 1816.

“Many will know 1816’s sourdough bread by taste or reputation, along with their array of other baked goods, but you may not know that their coffee is also fantastic.

“The menu offering the team have developed for Barkly Square will be full of flavour and they are committed to maintaining an affordable price range for visitors.”

All bread will continue to be baked at the Armstrong Street site and taken over to Ballarat East each day. The cafe will open Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 3.00pm.