New eatery for Willis

Canberra’s most lauded restaurateur, Ben Willis, is finally spreading his wings, opening a second eatery in the city. Willis, chef and owner at the highly regarded neighbourhood restaurant, Aubergine, in Griffith, has had a number of offers to start new places, but has previously resisted the move.

Now, he is refurbishing a former Chinese restaurant in Moore Street in the city – near the corner with Barry Drive – and plans to have it open in about two months. The city eatery, to be called Temporada, which Willis says means ‘‘seasonal’’ in Spanish, will be co-owned by Willis’s sous chef in Griffith, Chris Darragh, with Willis remaining in the kitchen at Aubergine. The menu will be a collaboration, Willis says.

The theme is European ‘‘in that loose Spanish, southern French, Italian kind of way’’, and the feel will be casual, with 25 or 30 seats for dining at a bar, and only 60 seats all up. ‘‘It will be relaxed dining, so no high end prices nor feel to it,’’ Willis says. ‘‘It’s happened so quickly that we’re still figuring the menu details out.’’ The design is by Sydney restaurant designer Chris Wilkes.

Willis says the new place will give Darragh the outlet he needs, given his talent in the kitchen, and a place to work on some dishes not suited to the Aubergine menu. But he is aware Temporada will open with high expectations from the start, given the reputation he has built at Aubergine. ‘‘When we took over Aubergine there was very little expectation because no one knew who I was, but this place has to be right from day one.’’