Simon Arkless and Cait Mitchellhill purchased the former Hog's Breath Cafe site on Townsend Street and are in the process of a transformation to a brand new bar and restaurant, Yardbird.

The pair met in the UK before they moved to Australia in 2002 where they quickly became established in some of Melbourne's top restaurants.

A tree-change to Albury saw Mr Arkless appointed head chef at All Saints Estate's Terrace Restaurant at Wahgunyah and Thousand Pound at Rutherglen, while Mrs Mitchellhill transferred her skills to front of house.

They've combined with Melbourne restaurateur Denis Lucey to offer the Border a European-influenced menu, without the fanfare.

"Hopefully it's relaxed and informal, but professional at the same time. It's going to be very simple food, but we just want to do it really well," Mr Arkless said.

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"I've been doing it for nearly 37 years, so I'm dipping back into the old memory banks and bringing back some old stuff.

"Even desserts are going to be very classic. You can expect to see something like a creme brulee or a lemon tart on the menu, but we just want to execute it perfectly."

Mr Arkless said the venture had been talked about for six or seven years and was stalled by the start of the pandemic, before they bit the bullet.

"It's a bit exciting and a bit terrifying at the same time," he said.

"It was only earlier this year that we felt like things were coming good again and had the confidence to do it, but isn't hindsight a wonderful thing (laughs)."

Mr Arkless hoped to welcome patrons from early November, but said delays with lockdowns, equipment supplies and materials for the refurbishment had slowed progress.

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