Order up for father-daughter dream

WITH the Bannockburn Tuck Shop closing down, a new takeaway cafe has opened to take its place.

Called Banno Bites, the cafe is being run as a father-daughter venture between Sian and Ben Scott, with the latter saying it’s rekindled a dream.

“I had a cafe before between 1995 to 2002. That was called Cafe Retro in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales,” Mr Scott said.

“Sian was four months old then and we lived above the place so I lived and breathed it. The dream was to have my children working the cafe but it wasn’t meant to be.

“I was working out here for Sticky Balsamic and would visit the Tuck Shop regularly. I overheard they were trying to sell and jumped at it.

“I saw an opportunity for Sian to be a part of this with her hospitality experience. Between the two of us, we’re quite a versatile pair.”

A professional chef for more than 20 years, Mr Scott has served up meals at Geelong College as well as Geelong Grammar and Deakin University campus.

Ms Scott has worked in hospitality for seven years and said she’s excited to work the front-of-house while her father prepares the food.

“It makes hospitality a bit more enjoyable working with dad then it would usually be,” she said.

“Having the space between us and making what we want of it while making it our own is great.”

Mr Scott said Banno Bites will offer a different service than the Tuck Shop.

“This will be a takeaway to cater for coffee and food needs with something on the go. We’re not trying to be a cafe as such, but we want to enhance what this was,” he said.

“The Tuck Shop had a lot of fried stuff and not many healthy options so we’d like to get some real food in there.

“There’ll be lots of wet dishes, pastas, curries, lasagnes, things like that on the menu. It’ll be a lot more variety.”