NEW Albury eatery Urban Graze is the first in a chain of restaurants planned by the owners.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Former Kinross Woolshed Hotel owner Nic Conway, former Wodonga man Sean Lefoe and Melbourne’s Chris Palmer opened their burger restaurant this week in the Dean Street premises previously occupied by Dymocks Booksellers.
Mr Conway said they planned to open an Urban Graze eatery in Wodonga before Christmas and were eyeing regional Victoria and NSW for future venues.
“The idea is to go to big rural cities that don’t have the dining options we offer,” he said.
A father of five with wife Nicole, Mr Conway said Urban Graze was inspired by his own experience of dining out with family.
“There was a void between the cafe and the pub scene,” Mr Conway said.
“If you dine out with family it needs to be affordable too; so we have got the right price point for Albury-Wodonga.”
Mr Conway said the Urban Graze name and concept reflected a meeting of the city and country.
“We’ve got the city feel with the renovation – which could be somewhere in Brunswick – and the country fresh food and service,” he said.
Mr Conway said the food scene was starting to thrive in Albury-Wodonga.
“We want to help create a dining out culture here,” he said.
“I want to encourage people to dine out frequently; I know they are not going to eat here every time.
“We want to be part of the dining culture as opposed to knocking anyone off their perch.”
Urban Graze’s opening comes with burgers being on trend worldwide.
Mr Conway said they offered beef and chicken burgers, steak sandwiches and urban burgers such as lamb, fish and vegetarian.
“We have fresh produce delivered every day from Arnold’s (Fruit Market) and healthy burgers and sides,” he said.
“The burgers are gluten-free if you add a quinoa bun.”
Mr Conway said they employed 50 staff on rotation, which allowed streamlined service.
“We like everyone to be served in eight to 10 minutes,” he said.
Urban Graze can seat 220 with 64 seats on Dean Street.