It has been four years in the making and there are still a lot of exciting developments to come, but Off the Wharf Café is open and has been busy since day one.
Manager Khon Kyriakou explained that although they probably weren’t meant to open as yet, they felt they had to grab the Christmas trade.
“We got a Certificate of Occupancy for the café and fenced off the rest of the area which will be developed in the coming months,” Kohn said.
“The all abilities ramp is next to be developed, in fact material for this is being dropped off at the moment. This ramp will allow visitors onto a viewing deck so they can witness the fish being unloaded from the trawlers.”
Khon said there will be an illustrated timeline along the ramp and deck which will give a history of the fishing industry in Lakes Entrance and its development.
“Because all this development was planned four years ago costs have blown out, but thanks to the Board of Management and some local families chipping in it will still all go ahead,” he said.
“The café will have a floating jetty attached to it and we are in the process of getting fixed furniture for the outdoor deck. There will be sepia murals on the interior depicting the story of the co-op and families.”
Khon sees the whole of Bullock Island being a tourist destination within a tourist destination.
“We have been reaching out to tourist operators like bus groups, Qantas and Destination Gippsland to get Lakes Entrance to be a destination instead of somewhere that tourists pass through. We would like to pair up with motels etc to offer a whole experience,” he said.
“We are redefining the Bullock Island/Off the Wharf precinct so it can be a whole experience, you can grab some takeaway and discover the island, the fishing and crabbing and fresh seafood sales making it a go-to destination.”
Khon is a fully qualified chef but will concentrate on the venue management, marketing and promotion, operational and training. He owned and was head chef at the Floating Dragon and has an applied science in hospitality management.
“We have a new head chef, Megan, who is from Paynesville where she impressed in a fish and chippery background,” Khon said.
“There has not been much promotion yet but each day the café has been packed at lunch time. We use as much local produce as possible, sourcing seafood straight off the trawlers. We pick daily off the boats, it is weather dependent but fresh is our priority, there is no freezing the product. All our breads come from local artisan baker Andrew Collier from Seasalt Bakery which are excellent.
“Off the Wharf Café is a blend of niche seafood café and old school fish n chips. There is a science to matching the salad with the fish so there is no greasy old fish and chips. We are not trying to compete with your takeaway fish and chip shops.
“Our team of nine staff are all locals and have done well serving the phenomenally busy lunch times with a mix of locals and tourists.”
Off the Wharf is open from 9am to 7pm Tuesday to Saturday, plus Sunday for lunch only.
“We can’t wait to be a whole different beast in the near future,” Khon said.
