HOSPITALITY stalwarts Nick and Sonia Anthony have barely taken a breath since closing their multi award-winning fine diner, Masons, in early February.<\/p>\n
They’ve both embarked on individual projects as a way of keeping connected to organisations and businesses they were associated with while operating what was considered one of Australia’s most ambitious restaurants from the 2010s.<\/p>\n
One of its hallmarks was sourcing seasonal fresh fruit and vegetables from the Gravel Hill Community Gardens, 600 metres as the crow flies from their venue.<\/p>\n
Nick is continuing this relationship with his idea to produce value-added seasonal salads with ingredients sourced from the gardens to sell at the Bendigo Community Farmers Market every month, starting from April.<\/p>\n
He said the Gravel Hill Gardens idea has been a long time coming.<\/p>\n
“The garden is so underrated and the quality of the produce coming out of it is fantastic,” he said.<\/p>\n
“It’s a win-win – we’re raising money for the garden and the customer is getting really interesting produce picked on the Friday morning, washed, prepped and ready to go for the market the next morning.”<\/p>\n
“We’re really pumped and people are loving the idea.”<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Sonia was involved in the reopening of Blumes Historic Bakery in Harcourt last weekend as part of the Lost Feasts program, in conjunction with the Lost Trades Fair.<\/p>\n
She said her association with Blooms is a match well made.<\/p>\n
“Our values and ethos are very similarly aligned and we like the same things, we like good local produce and to work with good food,” she said.<\/p>\n
“We try to keep food real, using proper ingredients and working a lot with our hands.”<\/p>\n
There’s no doubt about her determination to give back to a local hospitality industry she’s been a big part of for years.<\/p>\n
“I’m very lucky to have found something that I feel so deeply about, and I’m so lucky that I’m surrounded by incredible people,” she said.<\/p>\n
“We couldn’t have done Mason’s without the help of so many people and this is our opportunity to pay it forward.<\/p>\n
“That feels really good for me.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
HOSPITALITY stalwarts Nick and Sonia Anthony have barely taken a breath since closing their multi award-winning fine diner, Masons, in early February. They’ve both embarked on individual projects as a way of keeping connected to organisations and businesses they were associated with while operating what was considered one of Australia’s most ambitious restaurants from the […]<\/p>\n