Our story
Step behind the doors of Brigalow Pavilion
The house
Meet the house on Kariboe Street
Brigalow Pavilion occupies a highset timber building on Kariboe Street, with a deep verandah on three sides, louvres in every wall and a pitched iron roof that sings in the rain. The venue is operated by WAFFLE ADVERTISING LTD, 85 Great Portland Street, London W1W 7LT, United Kingdom. The house itself, however, belongs to the people who work in it, and to the guests who return to it.
Claire Bryant, who founded the house, grew up on a property in the Callide Valley among women who baked for the district show. Her mother's sponge took second place four years running, and the family still disputes the verdict. When Claire went into hospitality elsewhere, she carried that standard with her, and when she returned to the valley, she set about finding a building in which to apply it.
I joined as manager when the kitchen was already established and the casino room was still a suggestion. It was Claire's observation that guests who had eaten well liked to remain seated afterwards, and that a deck of cards was a natural continuation of a good supper. The front room was fitted out over a single winter, and I have been dealing with the consequences ever since.
The standard
Learn what the show hall taught the kitchen
The produce hall
Every district show has a long hall in which preserves, cakes and scones are displayed on trestle tables beneath white cloths. Each entry carries a numbered card and a score, and the whole community walks slowly down the aisle in silence. The hall taught Claire that food is something to be shown, tasted and judged honestly.
The judge's table
A judge tastes before speaking and writes before smiling. Catherine Nicholson, who has judged herself, still keeps a small notebook in which she scores the kitchen's own dishes each week out of ten. Anything under eight returns to the bench, and the cook responsible buys the tea.
What a sponge teaches
A sponge has no tricks. It needs fresh eggs, careful folding and an oven that behaves, and it punishes impatience. For this reason a sponge is baked here every evening, and the one that fails is eaten by the staff rather than hidden. The discipline carries through to every other plate that leaves the kitchen.
Why the puddings come first
Guests ask why the menu page is called Plates and puddings, with the puddings given equal weight. The answer is that in a show hall the sweet things were always the most carefully made. We keep that order of importance, and the dessert list is written first.
Where the cards came in
The tables in the front room are a courtesy, not a business. They keep the evening unhurried for guests who are not ready to go home, and they are played entirely on chips with no value. Nothing is staked, nothing is won, and the house is quite content that this should be so.
The people
Meet the people who run the evening
Catherine Nicholson
Head chef
Catherine learned to bake from her grandmother and to cook from a decade in restaurant kitchens in the north of the state. She arrives at dawn to make the evening's sponge, scores her own dishes in a small notebook and has not, to my knowledge, ever served a plate she would not have entered in a show.
Gillian Novak
Floor manager
I came to Biloela to manage a canteen at the power station and found that feeding two hundred people on a shift had prepared me, rather unexpectedly, for running a dining room. I look after the floor, the bookings and the staff, and I write the notes on the front desk each evening.
Daniel Fitzgerald
Croupier
Daniel dealt at tables in several states before settling in the valley, where he says the quiet suits his temperament. He trains every dealer on the floor, runs the roulette table on Thursdays and Saturdays and teaches blackjack on Fridays, with a patience that has never once been tested to its limit.
Alana Curtis
Host
Alana greets every guest at the door, takes the names on the list and finds a table for anyone without a booking, which she describes as the best part of the job. She grew up two streets from the house and can tell you what the building was used for at every stage of its life.
About the house
Ask what you like about the house
- How old is the building?
- The timber house was built for a family many decades ago and has been a shop, a boarding house and a hall in its time. The structure is original, the louvres are original and the ceiling fans are replacements for the ones that failed.
- Does the kitchen still bake for the show?
- Yes. Catherine Nicholson enters at least one class each year and has twice returned with a ribbon. The ribbons hang above the kitchen door, beside the notebook in which she scores the staff's own sponges.
- May I see the kitchen?
- Guests may look through the pass during service and ask questions at the end of the evening. A tour during preparation can be arranged by ringing Alana Curtis in the afternoon, when the kitchen is calmer.
- Are the staff from Biloela?
- Most of them, yes, or from a farm within an hour of town. Local knowledge matters to us, and several of the team have worked here since the doors first opened to guests.
- Can I meet the chef?
- Catherine usually comes out at the end of service for a cup of tea. If you would like to thank her or ask a question, tell Alana at the door and she will arrange it.