David Bellamy took over Harvest Home 12 months ago, naming his restaurant The Rabbit Hole Inn.
Photo by
Billie Davern
From the first time he stepped into a kitchen, David Bellamy knew who he wanted to be.
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“I wanted to own my own restaurant since the second I walked into a kitchen,” he said.
“I realised straight away, this is a (bad) job, I want to be that guy.
“But I sort of realised that it doesn’t happen overnight, it takes extremely hard work, a lot of dedication.”
Nearly 12 months ago, Mr Bellamy and his fiancée, Sara Alberse, took over Harvest Home in Avenel, an historic structure situated in the centre of the town said to have been built in the 1870s.
The two had their work cut out for them, giving themselves three weeks to ready the building, which had been empty for about six months prior, to open their new restaurant, The Rabbit Hole Inn.
When they discovered the building was for sale, they knew it was the right step to take.
“I really wanted David to be able to showcase his talents, and I knew he was being held back. It was his dream,” Ms Alberse said.
“As soon as we stepped out the back, we knew that this was the place he was going to have.”
Mr Bellamy started his journey as an apprentice chef in Shepparton.
It wasn’t long after that, at 19, he moved to Melbourne.
His ambition led him to work at Michelin-starred restaurants, under some highly regarded chefs whom he called “absolute psychopaths”.
Mr Bellamy also spent some time in London, an experience that heavily informs his work today.
Harvest Home has been a pillar of the Avenel community since the 1870s.
Photo by
Billie Davern
What the chef and restaurant-owner arguably utilises most, however, is what he learnt in childhood.
“My grandmother on my mother’s side grew up during the Great Depression, so there was absolutely nothing wasted,” he said.
“My grandmother on my father’s side lived through the Second World War in England. I used to love going (to her house) and rummaging through the cupboards, whinging, knowing that they were going to make me something, that ‘there’s nothing to eat’.
“They’d be like, ‘sit down’, and then all of a sudden, there’s just a spread there that came from nothing at all.
“When I look into a pantry now, I don’t see things, I see an opportunity.”
Understanding the value of food, Mr Bellamy constantly changes the menu to suit what’s in his kitchen, rather than wasting ingredients.
Adhering to their sustainable philosophy, Ms Alberse and Mr Bellamy are hoping to set up a table outside and serve a five-course menu with what they have grown in their veggie garden.
Looking forward, the two, who have been overwhelmed by Avenel’s support, dream of filling the seats of the restaurant.
“To get this place really, really busy, that’s the first step,” Mr Bellamy said.
“The busier we can get this place, the more staff we can have, the more we can improve things. That’s the snowball effect that I want.”
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