A familiar face behind the Red Door

A NEW era’s begun at Buninyong’s Red Door Pizzeria with former owner, Trevor Whitworth passing on the pizza peel to Katrine Taylor.

Also the operator of local café, Maggie & Kate, Ms Taylor was drawn to buy the restaurant – only a few doors up – because of her experience as a customer.

“We love it as a family. We would often come here, and I’ve watched it grow as my business grew down the road,” she said.

“Trevor had such a great following already, and his recipes are great, so when he said they’d be part of the parcel, I thought, I can do this.

“The business will basically be the same. We’ve got 14 staff; most of Trevor’s have stayed on, we’ve brought in some from the café, alongside a couple of newbies.”

A new wine list is being developed, and Allpress Espresso coffee will soon be served.

Although already open, Red Door’s hours will change from next month, operating on Thursday and Friday nights, Saturdays for lunch and dinner, and Sundays from late morning into the afternoon.

Growing up in Buninyong, and now raising her own children there, Ms Taylor wants to offer a space where families can relax together on weekends.

“We love going out on Sundays. That’s our family day, but I realised there’s nowhere really to go and do that here, to enjoy a Sunday session of food and music.

“So we’re going to embrace that. We’ve got a beautiful, big space, and we’ve opened up the backyard, which hasn’t been used recently. We plan to extend it back,” she said.

“From March, we’ll have live music on Sundays, and open for lunch from 12pm, to about 5pm. It will be something a bit different, and we’ll extend the menu to share-plates and platters.”

Although “exhausting,” Ms Taylor is relishing the challenge of running her contrasting venues.

“In the café, our customers are mostly locals, but we don’t do table service. Now serving tables again at the restaurant, I’ve realised how much I missed that connection with customers.

“Having worked in restaurants and bars, creating a local wine list and talking to breweries is exciting… and I’m learning to cook pizza, which I’d never done before,” she said.

On Friday, 19 March, Saltbush Kitchen, The Shared Table and Red Door Pizzeria are hosting a progressive dinner.

Visit bit.ly/3blabtA for tickets.