Mother and son duo Billy Ballard and Janine Ballard are running Metro together. Photo: Supplied.
In the thriving foodie town of Merimbula, there’s yet another delicious venue opening its doors. Metro is a restaurant and bar taking over the space in town where Santa Fe Mexican used to be, looking out over the estuary.
Metro is the brainchild of mother and son duo Janine and Billy Ballard. They both have a long history in the hospitality industry: Janine has owned and operated many cafes over the years, and Billy got his start working in his mum’s venues in their hometown of Coffs Harbour.
Billy then moved to Sydney where he worked in the specialty coffee industry, first as a barista then roaster, and then spent several years based in Panama as a green bean buyer. When COVID-19 hit he moved back to Australia, settling near Janine in Merimbula.
“Mum was three years out of the hospitality game and I think she was itching to get back into it,” Billy told Region.
“She suggested we buy this place. I always thought it was the best venue in town: pretty much every seat in the place has ocean views.”
Local oysters can be enjoyed on the deck with a view out towards the leases. Photo: DoubleTake Photography.
Metro Merimbula features lunch and dinner menus that can be casual, tapas-style sharing affairs out on the weather-proof deck or a more formal sit-down meal inside.
Taking inspiration from Mediterranean cooking, the menu is mostly a plant-based affair with healthy fats, seafood and a small amount of poultry.
“The whole place is stocked with local suppliers… We really wanted to go down the line of nothing frozen. So all the fish is fresh every day,” Billy said.
“If we can get stuff locally, we get it locally. The oysters are from James Wheeler – the restaurant actually looks straight onto his lease – and we make our own gelato using Tilba milk and cream. We’ve got beers from Frog Hollow Brewery in Wollumla, and North of Eden Gin.”
Janine undertook a two-week intensive gelato-making course with an Italian company (the same people who taught the Gelato Messina team) and they’ve imported specialty equipment from Italy to make all their gelato in-house: summer holiday ice creams just got a serious upgrade!
House-made gelato using specialty Italian equipment is made on-site at Metro. Photo: DoubleTake Photography.
The drinks list also features a $9 60ml negroni, which Billy explains is a bit of an inside joke with a few mates of his from his early days in the hospitality industry. They now own venues in Melbourne and Brisbane and they all feature a $9 Negroni: their favourite cocktail.
Billy explained that they felt Merimbula’s food scene was missing something in the middle.
“We wanted to broach the middle ground between what’s already in town. One the one hand you have pubs and the RSL, and then the more upmarket venues. This is more affordable food for lunchtime dining that isn’t a cafe.”
While people are welcome to have a full sit-down meal, they can also pop in for an ice cream and a coffee: and with Billy’s background you know it will be a good one!
So far Billy says the local community has embraced them and they’ve been amazed by the reception. The day we spoke there were two separate Christmas functions booked in the space, and Billy has had to hire twice as many staff as he first anticipated.
Metro Merimbula is located at Level 1, Shop 23/30-50 Market Street, Merimbula NSW. It’s open Wednesday to Sunday, from 11:30 am until late. Follow Metro on Facebook or Instagram.
