Botanic gardens venue proving popular

OMARI, located in the Bendigo Botanical Gardens, has been open for almost six months and has attracted a bigger response than expected.

The venue incorporates a rotation of artworks by local creatives that cofounder and managing director Aaron Clay said keeps it fresh and interesting for returning customers.

Since its opening, the cafe, restaurant, and events venue has seen customer numbers increase week on week.

“The response from the public has been great, I think we maybe underestimated a little bit the response we would have,” said Mr Clay.

“When we first opened, we had a relatively small team because we didn’t think the demand was going to be as huge as it was, and we had to grow that very quickly within a short amount of time.

“From there to now has just been a massive change in how we’re running things, a more streamlined approach than there has been.”

Mr Clay said the venue now has more than 25 staff, and it’s open seven days a week.

“It’s really good now that we’re connecting with the locals and we’re seeing regular return of customers, and so we’re getting to know individuals,” he said.

“I think the location specifically being where we are is a real drawcard for people.

“They can explore after their lunch or breakfast and really walk through and have a look at what’s around.”

Management is also testing live music events with a Summer Sunset Series, with musicians playing between 2pm and 5pm on Sunday 10 and Sunday 17 December.

“We’re really trying to gauge if it’s something we’d like to do longer term or if it’s something that we’ll do sporadically as we need to,” said Mr Clay.

“We don’t want to be your standard café or restaurant, we want to toe that line between fun and experiences.

“We had a wedding a couple of weeks ago, and they used the actual restaurant instead of the function centre, and that went off really well which was really nice to kind of see it used for a different purpose in that setting.”