St Judes Cellar Door & Bistro was opened by Rob Davidson in 2019. St Judes is located on the New England Highway at Ballandean where John and Jenny used to run Shiraz Restaurant. I had really missed Shiraz and although there have been other businesses located here in the interim they just weren’t Shiraz. Happily Rob has launched and developed another excellent restaurant/bistro that is a similar standard to the old Shiraz. The location doubles as a cellar door for a new local label ‘4382 Terroir’. The concept is that all 4382 Terroir wines will be made with fruit grown in postcode 4382 (Ballandean). To that end Rob has purchased the old Mary Byrnes vineyard and the Rees Road vineyard. He has planted 8000 vines in the Rees Road Vineyard.
You can feast at St Judes for breakfast, lunch and also dinner on Saturdays. The meals are imaginative and delightful and Rob will keep you entertained with his constant banter with his staff (and himself) from the open kitchen while he’s undeniably enjoying working at his chef’s trade. You can almost taste his enthusiasm in the meals. 4382 Terroir wines are available by the glass to accompany the food and some of the best coffee on The Granite Belt – Fonzie Abbott – is guaranteed to ignite your bodies energy needs, can you stop at just one?
Fonzie Abbott Takeaway Coffee (left) Sumptuous Brekky (right)
Inside St Judes
It’s good for the region and most especially for us visitors that we now have one more quality establishment on The Granite Belt that offers another genuine point of difference. Indeed variety and choice is growing quite fast on the southern reaches of The Granite Belt. Say Hi to Rob when you visit St Judes, I’m sure you’ll enjoy the chat.
You can read a tasting note for a 4382 Terroir wine on the blog 2020 Lagrein Cerasuolo. More tasting notes for these exciting wines will be coming.
St Jude Details
Location: 28200 New England Highway, Ballandean, Qld 4382.
Hours: Tuesday to Thursday – 8am to 2pm. Friday to Monday – 8am to 4pm. Saturday Dinner – 6pm to 8pm.
Call St Judes 0746841000