'Everything fresh' is business owner Hongfeng Gu's attitude to cooking.
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Mr Gu - who goes by Jack - recently moved from Melbourne to open Jk's BBQ in Lyttleton Terrace.
His fresh start came after his Docklands store experienced a down turn during the pandemic with customers yet to fully return to the Melbourne CBD.
"Melbourne now, after the pandemic, is very quiet, so we decided to tried coming up here. I heard from my friends there is no barbecue restaurant here, so we tried to make a new one - something that was fresh.
Jk's BBQ offers duck, pork and chicken prepared in traditional Asian ways but presented in a westernised format.
"We did similar food in Melbourne. In Bendigo, this is our first business we have here, so we are seeing what's going on," he said. "Bendigo has lot of Chinese and Asian culture, so we try to bring that in to make people happy.
"We have tried to make traditional flavours into the western way, like into a baguette, we have Vietnamese or Brioche baguettes, Taiwanese bread buns and softer wraps like pita bread.
"Also, we make our own chips that we order from local suppliers and make our own seasonings."
The takeaway store is open for lunch and dinner with Mr Gu and his team preparing fresh meat regularly.
"Everything is fresh here. In the morning we make things fresh and at dinner time, we make it fresh," he said. "That's our way. Fresh is the key. It's not a secret recipe, it's made the traditional way. It's exactly flavour you get in China Town in Melbourne."
Mr Gu has come from Shanghai by way of America, France and Italy where he and his partner worked with Michelin starred chefs include Alain Ducasse.
"We then jumped back to China but because my kid is a US citizen, she cannot stay in China after she is 16 years old," Mr Gu said. "So we were thinking either Australia or Canada and picked Australia. It's better, Canada is too cold.
"We have experience from working Hong Kong where old chefs taught us how to marinate and how to process the meat and how to display the food as well."
Since opening on February 28, Mr Gu said the store has been busy.
"The first day was very nice, we didn't realise it would be so busy," he said. "Lunch time, we did 150 meals. Dinner we did 300 and at 7pm we closed because we had nothing for sale, we were all sold out.
"The meat needs at least 45 minutes, so we were done. It's a beautiful beginning."
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