The Boiler Room Beer Garden
Editorial
Located within the grounds of the historic Abbotsford Convent (now a thriving arts and cultural precinct), the Boiler Room adjoins its better known big sister, the Convent Bakery. The bar serves pots and pints from Australian micro breweries such as Little Creatures, White Rabbit, Three Ravens and Grand Ridge from a boiler room which serviced the kitchens of the former Good Shepherd Convent for over a century. Organic wines by the glass or bottle are big news here as well. With glasses starting at $5 and bottles starting at $25, wines by Red Centre, Light’s View and Pure Vision are great value to match the great location.
The original boiler is still in situ, providing a richly textured industrial backdrop to the natural environment of the beer garden. The wood fired ovens used by the Nuns to produce food for the community of women who were residents of the former Convent are still in use, pumping out woodfired pizzas every Friday, Saturday and Sunday at a rapid rate.
The Boiler Room is a popular destination for residents of neighbouring Abbotsford, Collingwood and Kew, who have come to know the Convent as a community hub, or workers from the nearby industrial and corporate estates who flock in droves for an after-work drink. The Convent is vehicle-free, so it is a popular destination for families whose children are able to take advantage of the many climbing-trees and mysterious old buildings around which their imaginative minds may form many a wild adventure. The story behind the site is in itself quite a tale of adventure – one of abandonment and reform, religious observance, triumph over tragedy and finally, cultural prosperity. The Boiler Room Beer Garden is geographically inner-city but environmentally, a world away, and is part of a much-treasured natural and heritage refuge, hidden behind high walled grounds that act as a screen to everyday stresses.
Brenton Geyer, April 2010
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