One restaurant owner’s guide to thriving in winter

While some restaurant owners dread a winter drop in custom, Billy Crombie is longing for snow so she can dip into her swag of marketing tactics and make the most of the chilly weather.

Leveraging the success of their Belgrave takeaway, Billy, and her Indian chef husband Max, launched their restaurant Babaji’s Kerala Kitchen six years ago. Late last year, around the same time they opened a second venue in the picturesque town of Warburton, the Age’s Good Food Guide awarded them a hat.

The hat was a surprise for her no-frills restaurant, Billy says. ‘We are just a weird Indian restaurant in Belgrave. We serve you on metal plates!’

But the food is authentic, and so is the couple’s commitment to their local areas with initiatives like donating meals to struggling locals, and community days where the restaurant donates 10 per cent of its sales to a local group.

Having strong links with your local community is way more important for generating foot traffic than the season or temperature, Billy says.

‘The goodwill that we get from that will fill our restaurant on that night and then we are also always in people's minds. It sounds hippie, but if the food comes from a kind place, you are going to taste that. We strongly care about our community, and that is reciprocated.’

The Belgrave restaurant also hosts Friday campfire curry nights for locals, where dogs are welcome.

‘We give kids marshmallows for the campfire, people can bring their instruments and play. We want to make it a homely comfort food night, so we'll do a butter chicken and rice with a mango lassie or a chai for $20 or, if you want a spiced mulled wine or a beer, it’s $23. That's a pretty good deal. If they were to sit inside the restaurant that would cost them $35.’

The restaurant runs a treasure hunt for locals throughout winter. There are a dozen $100 takeaway vouchers up for grabs and clues are released each week on Babaji’s social channels.

With the Warburton restaurant still building its clientele, Billy is capitalising on its location as the closest for Melbournians to experience snow, with snow play areas and tobogganing runs at the adjacent Mt Donna Buang.

"It's free snow, people! You don't have to pay to go there," she exclaims. She hires out toboggans for day with the hire cost deducted from the price of a meal if the hirer eats at Babaji’s after their day on the mountain.

She’s also started experimenting with Paint and Sip nights. ‘I totally didn't know how that would go. Warburton is not a wealthy area, so I was really surprised to see that event almost sold out on a Thursday night.’

With the only other dinner option in the small town of 2,000 people offering pizza, Billy is also using creative ideas to introduce Indian as an alternative takeaway or dine in choice, to Warburton locals.

‘We've reached out to the local primary schools, and we are planning on sponsoring international school captains. We will also do a butter chicken day once a month at cost almost because I want their parents to know that they can come out for an Indian meal and their kid will eat it because they eat it at school.’

And if those ideas don’t work, she has plenty more. ‘When you're a restaurant and you’ve survived COVID, you don’t take anything for granted. I’ve got plan A, B, C, D, E, F to do, and when I've done them, I've got three more.’