Purpose Built

Opening a restaurant is tough. Building it yourself? That’s another world of pain. Just days before launch, FIONA DONNELLY drops into the worksite at Pipit, the new NSW North Coast venue by chef and handyman Ben Devlin.

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It’s two weeks until opening and Ben Devlin and Yen Trinh are getting close, but not close enough. Behind the scenes of their first solo venue – one they’re fitting out themselves from scratch – it’s a whirlwind of lists, scheduling and graft.

The last of their finance has been approved. They’ve nailed a lease they can afford. But with a budget, the need to plan an opening menu and a new baby – Penny, their first child, was born in January – stress levels are climbing.

At the couple’s home, there’s seaweed drying on the clothesline and under the stairs black macadamia nut oil is fermenting. Trinh is firing up back-ofhouse systems for their 40-seater, while caring for their daughter, whose nursery now doubles as a storeroom. There’s a dehydrator and a Vitamix in one corner, and her wardrobe is rapidly filling with other assorted kitchen essentials.

Devlin is tackling all the painting, rendering and tiling at Pipit himself, and quietly fretting. The mullet are running and the window for making bottarga is closing, and the kitchen still isn’t ready.

On site, Devlin’s dad, a carpenter, is building outdoor seating around courtyard garden beds. Pipit is already a bona fide family affair, with friends pitching in, too.

At Boon Luck Farm at Tyagarah, in nearby Byron Bay where Devlin grew up, a corner of Palisa Anderson’s coolroom is crammed with Devlin’s ferments and preserves that will feature on Pipit’s opening menus.