“YOU COULD SPEND A WEEK EATING IN BALLARAT AND HARDLY SCRATCH THE SURFACE.”
—Sofia Levin
FOLLOW ME: @sofiaklevin
Panning for gold at Sovereign Hill open-air museum is generally the first thing that springs to mind when someone mentions Ballarat. But the pandemic and inflated housing prices have encouraged young professionals to move here, and visitors are now starting to catch on to Ballarat’s bounty of bars, restaurants and local produce.
Less than an hour and a half northwest of Melbourne, Victoria’s third-largest city is once again a boomtown.
“A lot of people come up from Melbourne to eat dinner and then, halfway through the meal, decide to stay the night and book a motel,” says Michelin-starred chef, Derek Boath.
Formerly of, the region’s hottest restaurant. It’s set to reopen inside in October, albeit with two fewer seats. The original location has become , joining a plethora of boozy openings for Ballarat.
