Treats on track

By Monique Ebrington
SEVILLE mother Mel Hardcastle-Zeniou is on the right track to creating one of the newest and most novel eateries in the Yarra Valley.
Carriage Cafe will be created from a 1910 BE 16 train carriage, only accessible via the Warburton trail and only open during the day for breakfast, lunch and teas.
Due for completion in September, the idea came about after the birth of Mel and husband Andrew’s first child P.J. and her desire to keep occupied.
“After we had P.J. I didn’t want to stop working. I don’t like sitting home and doing nothing so I combined wanting to keep busy with my hospitality experience and the history of the area. That’s where the project began,” she said.
It took her two years to find the carriage and almost the same amount of time to get it approved by the Shire of Yarra Ranges who she said, didn’t say no, but didn’t know how to say yes.
Work is well underway to paint the carriage the same burgundy colour as the Victorian carriages that travelled along the old Warburton train line, build a platform for alfresco dining and creating a station house for the kitchen and bathrooms.
She said that while all is full steam ahead, it has given full bragging rights to her son who is just as excited as his mum about having a train station at the bottom of the family’s property.
“It’s all been a real treat for P.J. He came with me to look at a carriage in Sydney so he was going on a plane to go look at a train – any two-year-old’s dream,” she said.
Locals and visitors to the area are already being carried away by Carriage Cafe with many people keeping an eye on the progress of the novel venture.
Carriage Cafe is located along the Warburton Trail in Seville.