By Eleanor Wilson
Iconic Berwick cafe Primary @ Pioneers Park enjoyed a clean sweep at the 2022 VIC & TAS Restaurant & Catering Hostplus Awards for Excellence, taking out the Victorian Cafe Award and overall Casual Dining Award.
At the awards night in the CBD’s Federation Square on Monday 11 July, the cafe’s team celebrated winning the top spot for the Cafe Dining/Patisserie – Victoria City category, as well as the Casual Dining of the Year Award- one of three major awards of the night.
Cafe manager Kerryn McDonald said the Casual Dining Award, which crowns the top scorer of winners from several casual dining categories, came as a complete surprise to the team.
“It was pretty exciting, we were on the edge of our seats. We weren’t expecting [the casual dining award] at all, but I think just to be acknowledged for the hard work you’ve put in is what is most special,” Mrs Mcdonald said.
“When you’re in a room with really high calibre restaurants you realise how important it is and the calibre of the awards… it just really brings it home.”
Establishments in the Casual Dining Award category were anonymously judged on a wide range of criteria, including taste satisfaction, range of food on the menu, value for money, and atmosphere.
The point of difference for Primary @ Pioneers Park , according to Mrs McDonald, who has worked alongside head chef Zac Anderson at the cafe for five years, comes down to “good food and to top it off a wonderful team of staff.”
“Zac and I are so grateful to our team, because they’re the ones that keep it all going really,” she said.
“To be able to create the good coffee, the good food, you can’t do that without a great team”
Located at the site of the old Berwick Primary School, the cafe uses Roasting Warehouse Specialty Coffee’s Happy Days blend for its coffee beans and boasts a versatile menu owing to internationally renowned head chef Zac Anderson.
“The menu changes two to three times a year and we’ve tried to make it quite versatile now,“ Mrs Mcdonald said.
“Because we were going in and out of lockdown for the last two years, it had to become quite versatile so that we could transition to takeaway if we need it to be.”
Mrs Mcdonald said Primary @ Pioneer Park, which celebrates its 10th birthday in September, prides itself on its relationship with its customers, which often includes families and park goers.
“A lot of the staff that have worked in other hospitality venues said that they’ve never seen such a large group of regular customers. There’s probably a lot that we see everyday, and others we might see once a week,” she said.
“But you could probably treat nearly everyone as a regular.”
The cafe, located at is open seven days a week for breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and functions.
