Big city myopia, regional cities and cool capitals – is Canberra cool and who really cares?

I’ve been entertained by the heated discussion over an article in the Canberra Times recently about whether Canberra is cool or not, written by one of it’s previous inhabitants who now lives in Melbourne. The question of regional cities and cool capitals is one that won’t go away, not helped by some of the superficial journalism that passes for content in the online world.

Instead of endlessly comparing cities – Melbourne versus Sydney, Melbourne versus Canberra, Canberra versus Queanbeyan, Devonport versus East Devonport (as we did in my youth) – to gauge their degree of cool or of dismal, perhaps we’d be better seeking out the interesting places and features that lurk in every city, town and locality – including Canberra.

The eye-challenging foyer of Hotel Hotel in NewActon.

Fleeing the tizz of the big city
When I first moved to Canberra in 2000, as part of my own personal Olympic project, representing Australia in the well-established and popular sport of moving house, I wasn’t sure what I had come to. I was sick of the tizz of the big city—the late night parties and the unbanned substances, that probably should have been, the nicotine and plonk and shimmering vodka, clear as the conscience of a new-born child. In the end I galloped out of Sydney, like one of those wild grey horses that roam the Snowy Mountains—the ones that have now become far too prolific and need to be culled by gunshot from helicopters.

Provenance - knowing where good things come from

It took me only five years but I finally found my way to Provenance, the legendary regional restaurant established by chef Michael Ryan in Beechworth in 2010.

As regular visitors to Beechworth for decades, we had stayed there six or seven years ago in the accommodation tucked away at the back of the garden behind the restaurant, long before Provenance and long before the accommodation was refurbished. We had eaten in the restaurant as it was at the time. It was called of course The Bank, reflecting the original role at the height of the gold rush of the old 1856 Bank of Australasia building on Ford Street.

The entrance to 'Provenance' and the old bank that houses it.

Originally from Adelaide, with a background in chemistry, Ryan established Provenance with his partner, winemaker Jeanette Henderson, after almost a decade of involvement in the region. He was previously Head Chef at Milawa Cheese Factory and then won awards for Warden’s Food and Wine where, incidentally, we have eaten several times.

One of the best in regional Victoria
Provenance is widely considered one of the best restaurants in regional Victoria, in a tiny state that contains many good regional restaurants. In The Age Good Food Guide 2013 Michael Ryan won Chef of the Year and the restaurant was named Regional Restaurant of the Year and awarded two chefs hats. It was also listed in the Gourmet Traveller Top 100 Australian Restaurants in the same year. I had been meaning to eat there since it was established and given how regularly we travel to Beechworth and its surrounds I was amazed I hadn’t been earlier. It took some time but it was worth it.