The people have spoken and Rockpool Dining Group chief executive officer Thomas Pash has listened. A new restaurant, The Bavarian, will open at Charlestown Square next month.
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It will be located in the South Piazza on the first level of the shopping centre, at the site of the former Max Brenner Chocolate Bar which closed last October when the chain went into voluntary administration.
The Bavarian Charlestown will employ 45 people and has “33 positions left to fill, including assistant restaurant managers, chefs, kitchen hands and casual wait-staff”, Mr Pash said. If you’re interested, go to Rockpool Dining’s website and follow the links.
So, why Charlestown and not a stand-alone restaurant in, say, Newcastle?
“Our customer data shows that diners in this area visit The Bavarian restaurants in and around Sydney and they’ve been asking us for a while to open one closer to home,” Mr Pash explained. “Our favoured locations for new casual restaurants are dining precincts in busy shopping centres.
“We have certain prerequisites when looking for a new shopping centre: good visibility, strong traffic counts, and high foot traffic. We not only look to pick the right market but also the right site in that market, and take into consideration the overall aesthetic appeal of the precinct. Charlestown Square Shopping Centre ticked all these boxes.”
The Bavarian is the modern variation of Rockpool Dining’s traditional German bier hall, Munich Brauhaus, which launched at The Rocks in Sydney 40 years ago. The Bavarian concept was adapted from Rockpool Dining’s older Bavarian Bier Cafes about three years ago and is, Mr Pash says, “modern, fun and family-friendly”.
The Bavarian Charlestown will be the 67th restaurant in Rockpool Dining Group’s portfolio, and its 26th Bavarian restaurant. And, says Mr Pash, “The Bavarian Charlestown will be one of our most impressive and attractive Bavarian restaurants yet”.
In a nod to contemporary Australian bars, it will have a large central bar, large-screen televisions and drinking ledges adjacent to bi-fold windows that look out onto the beer garden. Signature features will include a stein chandelier, stone walls, Alpine timber finishes, large communal wood tables and beer barrel tables, and there will be two outdoor beer gardens decorated with green vines and fairy lights. Hanging baskets of green foliage will add a fresh splash of colour.
Executive chef Dom Lama oversees a menu that includes Bavarian favourites like crispy pork knuckle and pork belly, sausages, shared platters and schnitzels.
The Bavarian Charlestown is expected to open in mid-March.