Food glorious food – creating community in Bendigo

Bendigo food scene flourishes as does the local community

Who doesn’t like an invitation, especially one to ‘come in, sit down and enjoy a meal’?

At the Old Church on the Hill, a community hub in Bendigo, a sign on the wall, in a flourishing script, reads: “There’s a place at the table for you”. Another, tacked to the door of the community kitchen says, “All Welcome Today”.

Inside volunteers are rustling up espresso coffees and teas, and wrapping up slices of brownies to feed the hungry shoppers. It’s Sunday and folks are out browsing the fresh fruit and vegetables at the Growers’ Market stalls.

The Old Church on the Hill, which opened in 2014 in the former Quarry Hill Uniting Church and attached Sunday school hall, does indeed roll out the welcome mat. Thirty different groups run community activities in the centre, a complex that dates back to 1900. Under an array of colourful prayer flags, young kids and ‘oldies’ sit at two rows of long tables, challenging each other at chess. Writers meet at the hub on Mondays to polish their work, a homework club to help migrant children get up to speed, runs on Tuesdays, while the op-shop is open is three times a week and the ‘mending circle’ meets on Saturdays.

However, it’s food that unites everyone.

Managed by Neighbourhood Collective Australia, the Old Church on the Hill began as a pop-up community garden. With chooks pecking under a scarecrow and children planting seedlings with friends and family, the garden is open to all, whether green-thumbed or not. When not producing Sunday morning teas, the community kitchen, which was recently renovated with a smart commercial fit-out, is used by refugee and migrant groups to produce traditional dishes to be shared with everyone at regular ‘feasts’. Free community lunches are also offered once a week, and cooking classes, where participants make three-course dinners and sit down to enjoy them, are frequent events.

Food has always been a theme in Bendigo, which in the late 19th century was the richest gold-rush town in Australia. The Chinese, who flocked to the goldfields along with English and Irish fortune-seekers, established market gardens and their fresh produce provided  an alternative to the poor diet of the miners.

Today Bendigo is one of only two Australian cities, along with Launceston, to be recognised as an UNESCO Creative City and Region of Gastronomy.  Awarded in 2019, the recognition considered how the Greater Bendigo Region preserved and celebrated indigenous food culture, prioritised eco-friendly farming, worked to improve community health and supported a network of connected local farms, community gardens, boutique wineries and restaurants – all passionate about good food.

On a spring visit to the city, I check out the food offerings from the wholesome community meals to superbly curated dishes at chef-hatted restaurants in historic buildings and in vineyards in the Heathcote wine region. I also sip cocktails and soak in the hip ‘Melbournesque’ vibes in Chancery Lane that branches off Pall Mall, the main street.

A few kilometres out of the city, Peppergreen Farm is another establishment caring for the community by providing jobs for people with disabilities. Some 60 employees work in various roles from tilling the soil and tending the vegetable gardens and nursery on the two-hectare farm, to preparing meals in the cafe. An initiative of WISE Employment Social Enterprise, all money made from the sale of fresh produce and plants, the catering business and the gift and food shop is ploughed (pardon the pun) back into the farm.

I chat with operations manager Daniel Robertson, who has greeted a busload of children on a school excursion. They’re here to learn about organic farming and will take part in activities such as feeding the resident chickens. Daniel shows me around the property, established in 2010, which occupies the site of a former Chinese market garden, adjacent to Bendigo Creek. He says that apart from gainful employment, his young staff develop confidence as they mix with customers and give occasional talks on the workings of the farm.

Bendigo’s gold-rush wealth spurred the building of grand hotels and public buildings, many of which are occupied by the city’s smartest restaurants. At Terrae, in a 1864-built former bank, I savour shared entrees of fresh produce and dither over which main course to choose.

Never have carrots, of the yellow variety, and radishes tasted so good, nor the fennel and asparagus that accompany my main course of charcoal-grilled rock flathead. Opened in 2024, Terrae was quick to gain attention, picking up an Australian Good Food Guide Chef’s Hat within a year.

Another hatted newcomer is Le Foyer, located in a 1926 heritage-listed building on Queen Street. It hosts a busy cocktail bar downstairs, and a refined dining room upstairs. Although the look is minimalist-chic, a series of large wall photographs, each with an erotic hint – think sexy stockinged legs, high heels and pearls – add colour and whimsy.

I love my duck liver croustade snack and the confit salmon is divine, while the Blackjack Block 6 Shiraz from Harcourt, 30 kilometres away, is a standout and well matched with the wagyu beef main course.

My favourite meal comes when I least expect it, at a winery renowned for its sustainable practices. Silver Spoon Estate is one of just a handful of off-grid wineries in Australia. It generates power from rooftop solar panels and battery storage and uses only rainwater for domestic use and vineyard irrigation.

After a tour of the winery, I take a seat at the casual light-flooded bistro, with views over the vines. What follows is a degustation lunch I’ll never forget. While I love hummus at the best of times, Silver Spoon’s version, creamy with a hint of garlic and sprinkled with pomegranates, puts all the other dip varieties to shame. It’s followed by a cavalcade of dishes, each as delicious as the next: chef Ben’s Korean chicken with soy and ginger, barramundi, lamb backstrap with kipfler potatoes and side dishes of salads and truffle fries. Although I’m full, I miraculously perk up when owner Tracie Young appears with a tray of fortified Shiraz ice-cream. This little, adults-only dish combines vanilla bean ice-cream and fruit that has been marinated in Shiraz for seven days. A delectable combination.

 Bendigo’s food scene is as diverse as it is delicious. My only regret is there isn’t enough time to sample more, nor do I have a car to load up with produce and wines from Heathcote II, a sleek winery a short drive from Silver Spoon in Mount Camel.

Being partial to a red wine, I love their Shiraz range, and their Myola blend – a Bordeaux-style that mixes Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Beyond food and wine, Bendigo has plenty to warrant a longer second visit. The gold-rush era produced a distinctive architectural style and spawned a rich Chinese culture. Museums, galleries and even a talking tram that rattles past a dozen historic buildings await my return.

 Some handy contacts:

• V-Line trains run daily from Melbourne to Bendigo, with the journey taking 1.5 to two hours. Tickets are from $8 to $12 depending on the day of the week. https://www.vline.com.au/
• Qantas operates flights between Sydney and Bendigo five times a week (except Tuesdays and Saturdays). https://www.qantas.com/en-au
• Old Church on the Hill: https://www.theoldchurch.org.au/
• Peppergreen Farm: https://www.peppergreenfarm.com.au/
• Terrae restaurant:  https://terraebendigo.com.au/
• Le Foyer:  https://lefoyer.com.au/
• Silver Spoon Estate:  http://www.silverspoonestate.com.au  
• Heathcote II: https://heathcote2.com/
• Bendigo Tourism: https://www.bendigoregion.com.au/