The Kyn rises from the ashes

TORQUAY restaurant The Kyn is back in business nine months after it was heavily damaged by fire, and its owners are crossing their fingers for a big summer.

The venue on The Esplanade – formerly the Kyndarlin library and more recently Café Moby – was days away from launching when it caught fire late on December 3.

Undeterred, co-owners Yasmin Burton, Josh Friend and Tom McGrath set about redoing all their hard work and pencilled in September as their opening target.

They achieved their goal on September 15, a few days before the Surf Coast Shire went into lockdown, but reopened for service again on September 29 after restrictions lifted just before midnight on September 26.

“We squished a week in there before lockdown, so that was good. We’re back up again this week, and we’ll go from there,” Ms Burton said.

“We always had intentions to do that (rebuild) – obviously we were lucky enough to be able to fix what was damaged during the fire and aimed to get back where we were before that.

“It was hard with lockdown and with that all happening, so that probably didn’t help the situation, but I think we got it done quite quickly.”

She said people in Torquay were hailing the end of lockdown and the return of sit-down dining, albeit in limited numbers.

“We were so busy last week and we got that vibe from people – they’re just so excited to be out and about again.

“Hopefully it’s a good summer in Torquay. Hopefully that’s the last lockdown. We’re all just looking forward to summer, and no more restrictions.”

Ms Burton said The Kyn aimed to become “that destination venue that Torquay doesn’t have”.

“Just that little bit nicer, that little bit upmarket,” she said.

“Our head chef, James White, is quite renowned in the area and he’s been in Geelong, so we’ve been lucky to get him on board and he’s pretty amazing.”

The Middle Eastern-inspired menu is designed for sharing.

“It’s somewhere to go with your mates, share some really good food, have some nice wine, have some cocktails, and sit in the sun,” Ms Burton said.