Pialligo Estate to be reborn under new hospitality and events venture

The Pialligo Estate hospitality venue will reopen on 4 July with a new offering from restaurateur Anthony Whitehouse, backed by property tycoon and AFR rich lister Tony Denny.

After failing to sell last year, the 13-hectare property was put out to lease in April looking for visionary hospitality entrepreneurs to breathe new life into the venue which, under its previous owner, collapsed in March 2023 owing more than $10 million.

The venue will retain its recognisable name, but the partnership says it will bring a whole new experience to the Canberra restaurant and events scene.

Mr Whitehouse heads Create Catering and already has several connections with the Canberra food scene.

He has a long and distinguished history as a restaurateur extending back to the early 1990s in the United Kingdom, where his restaurant, The Hole In The Wall, was awarded a Michelin Bib Gourmand.

He came to Australia with his family in 2011. He was general manager of Compass Group before opening Create Catering, a company specialising in a diverse range of venue and event catering contracts.

It won a Restaurant & Catering Association award for Best Informal Restaurant in the ACT for Westering at the Lake George Winery, ran Poppy’s Cafe at the Australian War Memorial, Ollyville at Shaw Winery Estate and the Gundaroo Inn.

Create Catering has also won Best Venue Caterer and Best Site-Contract Caterer for the Australian Museum in Sydney.

It currently employs more than 250 people at venues such as David Jones and Cricket Victoria. Whitehouse also chairs Zoofari, the annual fundraiser gala at Taronga Zoo.

Mr Whitehouse said he first fell in love with Canberra when he came to the city after being awarded the AWM contract.

“Running the beloved Poppy’s Cafe alongside the event catering within the memorial, I built a connection with the region that led me to seek out other projects here,” he said.

“It’s a vibrant city that in the last decade has built a dining scene that I’m excited to have the opportunity to be a part of with our new venture at Pialligo Estate.”

Mr Whitehouse told Region it was imperative that the new venture retained its name, but it would be a fresh offering focusing on creative but honest food priced to not burn a hole in the pocket.

Mr Whitehouse said it won’t be somewhere the tasting menu costs you $200.

“We’re very conscious that people’s purse strings are tight,” he said.

“Canberrans know about their food, so if we’re not good, we won’t do well. If we are good, we’ll do really, really well.”

He said the English chef, who had worked at a three-star Michelin restaurant in London, had some clever menu ideas that would make food fun.

“I think the restaurant will get a hat, but it’s going to get a hat in a family environment,” he said.

“It’s going to be really good food, but it’s going to be somewhere you can go have a Sunday roast for $35 and get everything.”

Mr Whitehouse said there would also be an amazing wine list.

The new venture won’t be taking on the vineyard or the olive grove, but an onsite market gardener will supply the kitchen with fresh produce.

Events would still be prominent at the Estate, including weddings, and his financial backer is keen to activate the site, such as staging outdoor concerts to rival those staged in the Hunter Valley.

The plan is to open on Thursday, Friday and Saturday for dinner and lunch on Saturday and Sunday and then see what the demand was.

Mr Whitehouse said his partner was looking at the venture as a long-term investment and came to the project with the hefty financial backing of his personal company, Central Real Capital.

“He wants it to do well,” he said.

Mr Whitehouse’s business partner, Tony Denny, first made his fortune in Europe selling cars before turning his attention to property.

“Partnering with Create Catering on this project was an easy decision to make,” he said.

“Anthony is a visionary in the hospitality scene and I can’t wait to see the iconic landmark of Pialligo Estate have a new lease on life,” he said.

Over the coming weeks, the partners will assemble their team for Pialligo Estate to bring together the best of the best from both the Canberra hospitality space and a few surprises from a little further afield.

Pialligo Estate was put on the market and then for lease by the mortgagee after the collapse of the hospitality, farm produce and tourism business owned by Canberra businessman John Russell.

Original Article published by Ian Bushnell on Riotact.