Meet the mastermind behind this awesome bar in Moss Vale that’s ticking all the boxes.
Flour Bar in Mossy is a total gem. Open from 6 am serving top-notch coffee and flaky, delicious pastries, they then keep the good times going all the way through lunch and dinner and even after-dinner drinkies. Ooo and they also sell bottles of goodness you can take away as well. Honestly, it sounds like the kind of place we’d happily move into if we could.
And after meeting owner Ben and hearing his story and how he came to open up this truly unique and totally needed bar in the Highlands we’re even more keen to make it our forever local.
Check out our chat here and then swing by Flour Bar to see the magic for yourself. But fair warning: you might be tempted to bring your sleeping bag and stay forever. We’ve already had that idea!
1 :: Hey Ben, tell us how you found yourself in the Southern Highlands.
I actually grew up in the Highlands but then moved away for a bit. My wife is also from here and she missed her family so we decided to move back. We found it pretty easy to settle back into life here after moving away because it’s such a great place to live. We’ve been back for 12 years now and have since had 3 wonderful kids.
2 :: Fantastic! And what were you doing in all that time?
I’ve been working in the hospitality scene for most of my working life. At the start, I wasn’t really sure if hospo was for me but as time went on I realised that I love it. I decided to embrace everything about it and went and studied wine with the Sydney Wine Academy for 8 years. I ran various venues both in Sydney and locally as well as down the coast.
3:: Wow it sounds like you’ve done it all! So where did the idea for Flour Bar come from?
I’ve always dreamed of running my own venue. I would see the building that Flour Bar is in now and imagine what it would look like and what I would do if I were running it. This space just has so much potential. I probably did that every day for about 3 years. And then one day it came up for sale and it was serendipitous. Not the greatest timing when you’ve got little ones but I just knew I had to go for it!
4:: Talk about manifesting, right?!
Haha yeah! I think it’s important to realise what you’re passionate about but also how you can make that passion suit the community you live in.
5 :: LOVE IT! So, tell us more about Flour Bar.
We’re basically a bakery and coffee shop by day and a bar by night. We open at 6 am and serve a full breakfast menu plus pastries and some pretty excellent coffee. Then we have our lunch/dinner menu that goes all the way into the evening. We’ve also got an incredible cocktail and wine menu and we have a takeaway wine shop as well!
6 :: You really do it all!
Yep! We want to become a hub of the community in Moss Vale. As I say, we have food, drinks, tables and chairs, come in and enjoy us however you like. We love the idea of the kiddos having a milkshake in the afternoon whilst mum and dad enjoy a cheeky margarita. It’s a space for everyone.
7 :: And we bet the Mossy community is stoked to have you around, right?
We think so. We have so many great regulars already. The teachers from my kids’ school will come in for their morning coffee and have a chat. And because we serve coffee all the way up until 10 pm we get a great response from that. So many locals will come in and say that they’re so relieved they can actually get their hands on a coffee after 3 pm. It’s something we’ve noticed is hard to do around here.
8 :: Tell us about the other awesome thing you’ve been doing with the community.
Before Christmas last year, we helped a group of ‘work from home’ people have a Christmas party. It all started with a chat with my graphic designer and a photographer, who were both joking about having solo Christmas shindigs. That got me thinking, “Why not bring everyone together for a real party?” So, we did! About 30 people showed up, and it was the perfect chance for them to make new friends and properly wrap up the year. We’re definitely planning another work-from-home bash soon. Stay tuned.
9 :: Sounds amazing! What else do you love about living in the Southern Highlands?
It’s gotta be the sense of community. We have small growers and suppliers who I’ve known for 20 years who’ll just pop in with a basket of tomatoes and have a chat. I love that everyone knows everyone and the community rallies around each other. You see people go through good times and hard times and you hear their stories and share your own. You know your local butcher, you know your coffee shop and bar owner and you know the people who work at the supermarket, that can be harder if you live in the big cities.
10 :: And last but certainly not least, what’s your fave Highlands activity?
It’s hard to pick just one thing. Well, I’m a foodie so it’s probably gotta be taking my wife and the kids out for a nice dining experience. There are so many great restaurants in the Southern Highlands so we’re spoiled for choice. I also love getting involved. We sponsor my kids’ little athletics as well as some other community groups and it’s such a great thing to do.
Thanks a bunch for chatting with us, Ben! We’ve enjoyed hearing your story, and we can’t wait for our next visit to Flour Bar. Brekkie, lunch, dinner, and everything in between, you can count us in!
Wine and pastries – a combo we never knew we needed, but now we can’t live without.
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