Italian restaurants flock to Dubbo as food offerings diversify

The food diversity on offer for Dubbo locals is "increasing all the time" according to Dubbo Chamber of Commerce president Errin Williamson, who owns a cafe and restaurant in town.

"Over the past 10 years I think the food scene has really improved in Dubbo. We are getting so many different chefs in from different cultures," Ms Williamson told the Daily Liberal.

"People are also travelling so much to other areas and bringing back influences."

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Ms Williamson, who was born and raised in Dubbo, said the food scene had "definitely changed a lot" from when she was growing up.

"The variety of food options has increased so much and there's quite an array of cuisines that people can try," she said.

The owners of Piccolo Italian Restaurant Pizza and Takeaway - who claim to offer an "authentic Italian experience" - are in the process of moving their Lightning Ridge restaurant to Dubbo.

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A Narromine patisserie and bread shop called Brenno's Hotbake has also unveiled plans to open a branch in Dubbo.

A number of development applications for new hospitality venues have been launched with Dubbo Regional Council over the past month, including more fast food options in the form of Guzman Y Gomez and Domino's at a new development at 1 Spitfire Drive.

Macquarie Street could be home to a new dine-in Italian restaurant soon. A proposal for 87 Macquarie Street, in the old bank building, shows a pizza oven and cellar, as well as a five-bedroom serviced apartment on top of the restaurant.

Nearby at 80 Macquarie Street, a small bar development has been approved, to operate from 12 noon to midnight Mondays to Saturdays and 12 noon to 10pm Sundays.

When asked if the cost-of-living crisis was affecting the number of people eating out in Dubbo, Ms Williamson said she hadn't noticed the effects on her two venues. In fact, she said people in Dubbo love to go to restaurants.

"Any new restaurants in Dubbo can only be a good thing. The more people go out to eat, the more it becomes a habit to go out. Food isn't just for celebrations," she said.

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Buying local and using local ingredients was also a trend for hospitality providers and customers, for sustainability and health reasons.

"The less distance food has to travel, the better the quality it is when we serve it to the guest," Ms Williamson said.

"I think people definitely want to know where their produce is coming from. They want to know they're supporting a business that also supports local. Local business and support is such a big thing in our community."

Ms Williamson's cafe, Church Street Cafe, serves modern Australian food and her restaurant, Down The Lane, serves modern Italian-inspired meals.

"We try to keep it fresh and try to get stuff as locally-sourced as possible. It's really important to us as the closer it is to home the fresher the ingredients and it's tastier," she said.

She added: "We're such a strong farming region and there's so much produce available all the time and we should utilise that here."