General News
25 January, 2024
New chapter for Avoca Hotel
After 14 years of running The Avoca Hotel, owners Ian Urquhart and Alison Chapman will pull their last pint in late February as they hand the restaurant and bar over to new ownership. The couple reopened the original gold rush building back in 2009...
After 14 years of running The Avoca Hotel, owners Ian Urquhart and Alison Chapman will pull their last pint in late February as they hand the restaurant and bar over to new ownership.
The couple reopened the original gold rush building back in 2009 and has gained a sparkling reputation for their quality local food and unique selection of beverages.
Mr Urquhart said the hotel has changed dramatically compared to the fragile building he first walked into.
“The first memory I had was when we came up here in September [2009], Allison was working as a chef in West Melbourne and one of the owners mentioned that The Avoca Hotel was for sale,” he said.
“Allison said right, let’s go up and have a look at this place — as soon as we walked in here we knew we could do this and make it something really special.
“[The building] had really good bones, but was just tired — it hadn’t been loved for a while but we could see enormous potential.”
Since its reopening, The Avoca has won a wine cellar full of awards, including the 2019 3AW Pub of the Year, an Award for Excellence from Wine Spectator magazine in New York, and Australia’s Best Beer List three years in a row, landing them a spot in the Australia’s Wine List of the Year Hall of Fame.
Mr Urquhart said it has been wonderful to continuously be recognised for their dedication.
“I deliberately set out to chase [the beverage awards] because it was something we could do that would really put us on the map,” he said.
“We worked hard to get that list right, so we deserve it and to be a part of a hall of fame is pretty cool.”
Ms Chapman said the couple enjoy reflecting on the friendships, memories, and experiences they were able to create for themselves, and the Avoca community.
“We are proud of all of our achievements but it’s good to give the locals something to be proud of too,” she said.
“The friends that we have met here and seeing the kids grow up, kids who were six or seven are now in their 20s and then the kids that were 18 when we opened are now parents.
“The thing that we really enjoy the most is when we surprise people — they don’t expect the quality experience they get in a small country town.”
After 20 years of hospitality work, Mr Urquhart said the time was right to be able to relax and allow new owners to open the doors.
“We have reached the stage where we probably don’t have the energy to do the next stages of development,” he said.
“The opportunity to hand it over to some younger guys who have got the energy and the drive to take it to the next level has presented itself.
“They will have a different perspective, they hope to keep most of what we do and build on it — they want to use some of the outside spaces more so they already have some good ideas.
“We are looking forward to see what they do and being able to come out and enjoy the customer side of the bar instead of the other side.”
After they step away from The Avoca, Mr Urquhart said the couple plan to keep themselves busy in the community.
“We have no big plans — the first thing we want to do is have a rest and maybe go on some holidays,” he said.
“We share ownership of the motel in town and we got planning approval to start giving it a 60s vibe.
“We have also got land here in town, so we are going to build a house and be part of the community in other areas.”
While stepping away has caused mixed emotions, Ms Chapman wanted to share appreciation for the people who helped shape the couple’s ideas from 14 years ago into a reality.
“We want to thank the local wineries, they have been amazing in terms of supporting us and helping us along the way in terms of access to their stock,” she said.
“We have had a couple of really good chefs here as well that allowed us to take us where we wanted to go.
“Our staff and their families have been wonderful, we have had multiple sisters work here and then cousins so they have basically been doing the recruiting for us.
“It is really bittersweet, we are going to miss it as well as looking forward to it because it has been really good to us.
“It will be great to have our weekends back.”