North-side simple dining done right – Eat Drink West

Café Al Nord’s secret to suburban success

ALTHOUGH opening a new business in the midst of a pandemic wasn’t ideal, Café Al Nord has continued to defy all odds.

Having already made its mark on the North Ballarat dining scene, head chef and owner Andrew Flockhart said the business has developed organically over time.

“It’s changed quite a bit, we have a core clientele now, a lot of people just walk here and it’s become their café which is what I wanted and it’s developed into what I wanted it to be,” he said.

“We opened in July last year and were only open for two weeks before we had to shut down and just do takeaway for around three months, that was pretty hard.

“When we re-opened in September, it just grew and grew and grew and now we’re open seven days a week breakfast and lunch as well as two nights a week.”

With accessible parking onsite parking, outdoor seating, a range of local alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages and speciality coffee from Sydney, it’s not hard to see why the regulars come back.

Although, the food offering is the true star of the show and something Mr Flockhart said he’s tried to keep simple, satisfying and good value.

“Breakfast is a traditional breakfast menu with all the trimmings you could want, not over complicated, it’s true to being a suburban café – people want what they want,” he said.

“Lunch is a bit more of a developed menu, with a fair bit of seafood which I’ve had a lot of experience with which is also quite popular, as well as anything from meat dishes to just a toastie.

“We also have another whole page of share plates which are really popular and are sort of like tapas which run into the dinner menu which is different again and is a bit more up market and stylish.”

In addition to the café’s current offerings, Mr Flockhart is expanding his business into next door with plans to open a pizza shop in the currently empty space.

“Originally, I was just going to expand, knock down the wall and put a bar over that side and I thought during COVID about it and came up with the idea for a pizza place because everyone loves pizzas,” he said.

“I’ve got over 40 years of experience and was even the chef at McCains for years so I’ve done a lot of work with pizza bases, toppings and working with pizzas.

“It’s going to be called the Summit Pizza Bar and I’m going to name all of the pizzas after all of the names of the streets in this area, like the Simpson, the Walker, the Landsborough and more.”