A coffee and scones at Mount Nelson’s historic signal station sparked a dream for Borche Krstevski – and more than a decade later, he is about to realise it, opening his own restaurant and bar at the landmark this Friday.
Krstevski first visited the property with his partner in 2012 and said he immediately fell in love with it.
Now, he has taken on the lease from the Parks and Wildlife Service, becoming the new operator of The Signal Station Restaurant and Bar.
But turning the 1897 Head Signalman’s House into a dining venue has been a major undertaking.
“It has been absolutely a journey and a half, if I’m honest,” he told Pulse.
“The place was in a horrible state when I took over, so nothing was done for over 30 years.”
He said he had spent countless hours, sometimes working 12-hour days, scrubbing, sanding, refurbishing and repurposing parts of the building.
The work was part of a “massive renovation” aimed at bringing the historic property in line with his vision.
Krstevski brings 23 years of hospitality experience to the venture, including eight and a half years working aboard luxury cruise ships, two and a half years managing Wrest Point’s revolving restaurant and six and a half years at Frogmore Creek.
He will operate the business himself, with his partner Anna helping with administration.
The venue will initially trade from Wednesday to Sunday, 8am to 4pm, serving breakfast, lunch and “afternoon brunch”, with evenings reserved for events.
Krstevski said he hoped to introduce seven-day trading and potentially dinner service once he had a full team in place.
The menu will combine modern Australian food with Asian influences, with two chefs – one Australian and one from Taiwan – leading the kitchen.
“So what we’ll do, we’ll do modern Australian with a little bit of Asian fusion,” he said.
But Krstevski said the vision extended beyond the food, with the aim of creating a place for locals to gather and visitors to experience one of southern Tasmania’s historic landmarks.
“Our mission with the whole place is just to create a place where local community can celebrate all the memories and create new memories and new friendship and all that sort of stuff,” he said.
“Anyone is welcome.”
Mount Nelson was Tasmania’s first signal station and played an important role in communicating with ships arriving in the colony.
Messages were initially sent using flags before the introduction of semaphore systems, which allowed signals to be relayed between Hobart and other stations, including Port Arthur.
The restaurant will operate from the former home of the station’s signalmen, who lived and worked on site.
The Signal Station Restaurant and Bar opens on Friday, November 6 and will trade Wednesday to Sunday from 8am to 4pm.
More details can be found on their website.
