City eatery dishes up two top awards
A TOWNSVILLE restaurant has claimed two prestigious prizes at the Hotplus Restaurant and Catering awards.
The Matt Merrin and Tyron Samuel-owned Bridgewater has been named Restaurant of the Year – NQ and Contemporary Australian Restaurant – Formal at a ceremony on Monday night.
Mr Merrin described it as a “massive” achievement, especially after a difficult year.
The Townsville restaurant scene was brought to its knees by lockdown laws.
Restaurants and cafes
were forced to operate under strict conditions with Bridgewater one of many Townsville restaurants that was forced to close.
With the restaurant still operating under strict government rules to remain COVID-SAFE, the win is even sweeter.
Mr Merrin said his staff had worked incredibly hard this year and deserved the win.
“It’s a huge achievement for the team at Bridgewater and also great accolades for Townsville,” he said.
“We’re doing amazing stuff with our food scene here
and we’re so proud the team has managed to win this award.”
Mr Merrin said the restaurant, which has been open for two years, had been though many challenges, and the awards recognised how the food, the wine, the staff and the ambience all worked together to create Bridgewater.
He said at the start of the year, the Australian Good Food Guide gave the restaurant a chef’s hat and these two new awards “brought it all together” for the two career chefs.
“The restaurant industry is hard work and we’ve been through so many challenges, over the last two years, including COVID-19 … to walk away with that last night puts a huge smile on our head,” Mr Merrin said. “It just makes it worthwhile.”
Now Bridgewater is looking ahead to 2021, with Mr Merrin hoping life in the hospitality industry might return to normal.
He said getting back to normality would help the morale of staff, guests and ease the financial challenges.
The restaurant will be closed over Christmas and New Year to give staff the opportunity to spend time with family, have a break after the stress of coronavirus and get prepared for 2021.
THE RESTAURANT INDUSTRY IS HARD WORK AND WE’VE BEEN THROUGH SO MANY CHALLENGES, OVER THE LAST TWO YEARS, INCLUDING COVID-19 … TO WALK AWAY WITH THAT LAST NIGHT PUTS A HUGE SMILE ON OUR HEAD MATT MERRIN