Body photos by Duy Dash.
Bond Store Wallaroo’s grand opening fittingly coincided with the five-year anniversary of Derek and Nicole Matthewman’s purchase of the building.
Situated on the Main Street, the building is iconic to Wallaroo, and has been given a new lease on life as the Bond Store, a microbrewery, distillery, and restaurant.
The Bond Store’s fit out is modern industrial, designed to promote interaction between visitors. According to Nicole, who is responsible for making the Bond Store’s gin, the venue is all about sharing experiences with family and friends.
“We want everyone to feel welcome here,” Nicole says. “We have a great team of people working with us, they are all passionate about what we’ve created and love having a chat to our customers.”
The brewery bar features twelve taps, with five Bond Store brews currently on offer, and the guest taps serving other South Australian craft beers.
The microbrewery’s stainless-steel tanks act as a backdrop to the brewery bar and restaurant, and the 500L copper still (named Ginger) serves as the centrepiece of the downstairs gin bar.
At the moment, a vodka, coffee liqueur and three different gins are available to taste from the distillery, including a Quandong and Blood Orange Gin and a Pink Gin (created by infusing the gin with fresh raspberries).
In terms of food, the Bond Store’s menu emphasises quality, local produce, with a number of dishes cooked on the custom-made parrilla charcoal grill.
Originally built in 1865 by William Creaton Eland, and named Elands Bonded Store, the building was home to barrels of wine, whiskey rums, and general goods. Indeed, descendants of Eland followed the progress of Bond Store, and planned to travel from New South Wales to attend the opening.
“It’s been a lot of hard work, but we really wanted to create something positive for the town,” Derek says. “People are just starting to appreciate how great Wallaroo is – we’ve always loved it here.”
You can find Bond Store at 13 Owen Tce, Wallaroo SA. Find them online here.
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