Former Good Food Guide Chef of the Year swaps bowlo for revamped motel restaurant
Two years after closing her hatted Lorne bistro Little Picket, Jo Barrett is back cooking in a different Great Ocean Road town. Plus: Three more coastal openings to try nearby.
Two years after closing her unique restaurant set within Lorne’s bowling club, chef Jo Barrett is back cooking on the Surf Coast with a similar community-first mindset.
Just up the road in Torquay, Victoria’s gateway to the Great Ocean Road, the former Age Good Food Guide Chef of the Year is leading the food offering at the much-loved Surf Hotel, a freshly renovated 16-room motel on the seafront.
“I’ve always wanted to work in a restaurant that has accommodation attached, to complete the experience for people,” says Barrett. “An old-school motel is pretty cool.”
The restaurant seats 60 with a weather-dependent deck accommodating a further 50 people.
“It’s an intimate, homely space with incredible artwork,” says Barrett. “The architects and designers have nailed it. It feels like it’s been here forever.”
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Sign upThe menu is designed to appeal to locals and tourists, including those surfing at nearby Bells Beach.
“The food is quite light, with lots of vegies and leaves, and approachable things like steak frites and a schnitzel with parsley sauce,” says Barrett. “We want it to feel welcoming, somewhere between a restaurant and home cooking.”
Dishes are crafted alongside head chef Aaron Brodie, who Barrett first worked with at Oakridge winery, where she attained her first of several Good Food chef’s hats in 2016 alongside Matt Stone.
“Cooking with Aaron again is amazing, we have the same beliefs in cooking,” says Barrett. “We love classic skills rather than anything modern and flashy.”
Her return to the Surf Coast means she can buy from many of the farmers who supplied her Lorne venture Little Picket, which earned a hat trading out of a come-as-you-are country bowls club.
The vagaries of supply and seasons are accommodated in flexible dishes. Rainbow chard is stuffed with the greens of the day plus rice and olives, while a fish-finger sandwich – made from scratch – incorporates different species in each crumbed piece of fish.
Barrett’s partner Dave Osgood is on the dining floor and has created a beverage list with a local focus.
Barrett is also known for her zero-waste ethos, expressed most radically at Future Food System, a closed-loop pop-up home and restaurant that Joost Bakker built at Federation Square in 2021.
After being named Chef of the Year in 2023, she later left hospitality to launch Wild Pie, a company with a different take on the meat pie. The Beechworth-based enterprise sources wild-shot feral game and turns it into pies and dim sims, aiming to mitigate the environmental damage caused by deer, wild boar and goats.
The schnitzel at Surf Hotel is made from wild venison, and the menu also includes wild boar dim sims, all sourced via Discovered Wild Foods, which Wild Pie joined forces with in 2025. Discovered engages mobile hunters to harvest introduced species; Barrett is a shareholder of both companies.
“I love what we’re doing and I’ve learnt so much, but I’m a chef and I still really love restaurants,” she says. “This way I get to do both.”
Three more new coastal restaurants to try nearby
Ela, Torquay
This contemporary Greek eatery fired up Torquay’s waterfront dining when it arrived over summer. Co-owner Jason Gugliotti – also behind local charcoal chicken outfit Pollo Rotisserie – and his uncle Gino gutted the old Bob Sugar space, refitting it with rendered walls, tactile features and terracotta tones to create a modern, Grecian feel. Former Tonka head chef Ricky Galindo helms the kitchen and kneads fresh pita each morning to keep up with thousands of orders a week in the busy season. It’s all about simple dishes taken in new directions: cured fish with lemon-ouzo granita; saganaki with gooey grilled figs and rosemary-honey butter; lamb slow-roasted on the spit. Stick around and you might end the night sharing shots of ouzo with the owners.
17 The Esplanade, Torquay, elatorquay.com
Miettas, Queenscliff
After a decade lying dormant, the heritage Queenscliff Hotel – and its legendary fine diner Miettas – swung back open the doors in March. Former Merne at Lighthouse owner Joshua Smith is in the kitchen, using his time at regional favourites Tulip and The Royal Mail Hotel to celebrate native Australian ingredients and local produce. Husband-and-wife duo Rob and Tammy Charter began restoring the nearly 150-year-old building from top to bottom three years ago. They’ve revitalised historic features including stained-glass windows and original tiling, while adding contemporary flourishes like a shuffleboard and local Bellarine artwork. There’s also a new courtyard cafe, cocktail bar and 12 restored rooms.
16 Gellibrand Street, Queenscliff, thequeenscliffhotel.com.au
Boccabona, Ocean Grove
One of the Bellarine’s best-kept secrets is Mona Cicchetti Bar, an Italian eatery locals flock to among Wallington’s farms. Its owners, local couple Luca Guadagnin and Amy Springer (also behind Barwon Heads pizzeria Che Vuoi), have completed their hospitality trifecta with a new pasta bar in the heart of Ocean Grove that pays homage to Guadagnin’s northern Italian upbringing. Designed to replicate a homely chalet in the Dolomites, Boccabona’s dining room is adorned with pictures of Guadagnin’s family and hometown. Fresh pasta nods to family recipes, from slow-cooked lamb ragu to pork and beef bolognese, and Italian wines dominate the drinks. Pasta-making classes are also on the cards.
91 The Parade, Ocean Grove, boccabona.com.au
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Dani Valent is a food writer and restaurant reviewer.
Emily Holgate – Emily is a producer for the Good Food App at The Age. She previously wrote for the likes of Broadsheet and Urban List.Connect via email.