By Callum Ludwig
Branded Burgers and Bar in Seville has been deemed the best burger bar in Victoria and Tasmania at the recent 2022 VIC & TAS Australia Restaurant and Catering Hostplus Awards for Excellence.
They beat out four other nominated burger bars to take the main prize at the ceremony on Monday 11 July at the function centre in Zinc at Federation Square.
Co-owners Gina Braidner and Amanda Pearse created Branded and Ms Braidner said she is absolutely blown away to receive the award.
“Of course, when you are nominated for these things, there’s always that level of hope that you would want to win it, but I really didn’t think that we would take it out given the other calibre of the other contestants in there,” she said.
“To have the team there to receive it was just even more special for us, we are all elated.”
Ms Pearse attended the event with members of the Branded team to receive the award.
Co-owner Gina Braidner said Branded recently celebrated only their 5th birthday since opening.
“We opened as a burger bar trading from Thursday to Sunday, and then expanded to breakfast and trading through from Tuesday in 2019, just prior to Covid,” she said.
“That was its own set of battles and challenges but we got through. The reason we started Branded and stuck with it for so long is that we’re there for the community. To be able to pull this off is just like a bit of a thank you for everything that we’ve done and recognition for the community in supporting us.”
More than 130 local restaurants, cafes and catering businesses gathered to celebrate the achievements of their peers who were judged in over 45 categories at the event.
Ms Braidner said the last two years have been tough for the business and the local community.
“We use the restaurant as a platform for people to reach out, to help with homelessness and charity groups and support people in need and the community. We had Santa a couple of years ago when Santa was homeless and didn’t have a place to go down at Chirnside Park anymore, we got him organised at Seville, raised $36,000 and donated it to four different children’s charities,” she said.
“We’ve also worked with Holy Fools and Soupies in Upwey to help with homelessness and give the community a platform where they can donate warm clothing and to food drives. We have also worked with the Victorian Brotherhood, the Seville Football Netball Club, the Pony Club, primary schools and kindergartens.”
A spontaneous day of closure was in order for Tuesday 12 July as the Branded team celebrated their success long into the night. Normal opening hours resume from Wednesday 13 July.
Ms Braidner said coming out of Covid has been tougher in ways than being in Covid and is continuing to focus on the community going forward.
“There are staffing issues, food supply chain issues and the rising costs of everything has actually been more of a challenge for us than trying to get through Covid, at the moment, Amanda and I are really just head down, bum up trying to get the business through this next phase,” she said.
“During Covid, we did community meals to help those doing it tough financially, our chefs would cook and Amanda and I would just spend the next two to three days delivering them out to those that needed them. I had one phone call from someone with 7 cents in the back to last her and her daughter the week. There are people out there we just don’t know about, I don’t know whether it’s because they don’t reach out or we just don’t listen and watch enough.”
The Awards for Excellence is a nationally recognised, independently judged awards program where the judging criteria are determined by consumers who rank what is important to them in the dining experience.
Restaurant and Catering Association CEO Belinda Clarke said Branded Burgers and Bar should be immensely proud of this win.
“The past two years have been incredibly tough for the entire hospitality industry in Australia but success stories like this show how far hard work can take you,” she said.
“With the right mix of staff, products, produce and service, the results can be extraordinary.”
The Awards are judged by an independent team of trained judges who anonymously visit the venues to determine the restaurant/café winners. The scores are based on the entire dining experience from food to the customer service experienced when the judges anonymously dine.
