By Vivienne Pearson
The Terrace food businesses band together during roadworks
The Byron Shire is in the grip of roadwork mania. There are either potholes needing filling, potholes being filled, rates being raised to raise funds for pothole filling or people complaining about potholes. And, in a few spots, the potholes have become such a big pot that the whole road gets rebuilt.
That’s the case for The Terrace in Brunswick Heads. One of the prettiest and most popular parts of Bruns, the stretch of road that runs riverside between the two bridges, will be closed for approximately four weeks.
The road will be closed but the footpath and shops will remain open. The six food businesses directly affected have banded together to get the message out that they will stay open and continue to serve their great food and drink.
Here’s what each are planning – heading north from Fingal to Mullumbimi Streets – noting that all these plans (and indeed the dates of the roadworks) are subject to change:
The Terrace Espresso Bar: ‘We’ll still open 7 days, to at least 1pm,’ says owner Domenic Arena. ‘We’ll up our usual discount to those who bring their own coffee cup to $1. We’ve offered a 50c discount since we opened over 5 years ago, but we’ll increase this during the roadworks.’
Dominic at The Terrace Espresso Bar
MILKBAR: ‘John and I will be here throughout,’ says Jade Campbell-Scott, co-owner. ‘We’ve found other work for our staff. We’re going to focus on our weekend trade and our popular Wednesday Night Street Food Theme dinners! We serve four dishes (meat/seafood/vegetarian/kids, including gluten free and vegan options) on a theme – tonight is Malay Laksa.’
John at Milk Bar
Footbridge: ‘We’re going to continue to run as normal,’ says owner, Cameron Willis. We have wonderful customers and are sure they’ll continue to support us during this time.’
Cameron at Footbridge
The Brunswick Fish Bar: ‘We’re going to start with our normal hours (11am-8pm) and simply see what happens,’ says Jack Wright, owner. ‘Our current customers will still want our popular burgers and we know that lots of locals will be looking for quality fish and chips now the Co-op has closed.’
Jack at Brunswick Fish Bar
The Dolphin: ‘We’ll keep opening 7-days from 6.30pm,’ says Gary Deller, owner. We have plenty of space inside so we’ll keep our doors closed when needed to keep any dust out. We’re also going to make the most of the downtime to reinvigorate – a new menu is being planned and even a whole new concept is on the cards.’
Gary at The Dolphin
Torakina Café: ‘We’ll see how we go with our outdoor area but can close up our ‘glass room’ to keep the light without dust and will maximize the access we have from Mullumbimbi Street,’ says owner, Anthony Kerrison. ‘We will keep offering 50c off coffee when you BYO cup and will continue with our quest to eliminate plastic all together, including using stainless steel straws and biodegradable take-away cutlery.’
Anthony at Torakina
All six eateries are staying positive and hope that their customers will reward them with loyalty and custom over this time. They even managed to laugh when, despite the planned works being well signposted to the public, the many potholes in the street were carefully filled just last Thursday…
