By CASEY NEILL
Gembrook’s Main Street has received the Gordon family golden touch.
The Robert Gordon Pottery crew set up The Independent with Argentinian chef Mauro Callegari.
The restaurant serves up local produce in a modern Argentinian menu and has been part of a recent resurgence for the Dandenong Ranges community.
“We come from Gembrook and there was a hardware store that shut down years ago,” Robert ‘Andy’ Gordon said.
“It was a lovely old building and I used to go in there when I was a kid. I loved it.
“Some guy tried to make it into a tattoo parlour.
“The pub had gone bust and closed down.
“It would have set the whole culture for Gembrook.
“I said to the owner ‘if you want to sell it, I’ll buy it’. I didn’t really have any idea of what I wanted to do with it.”
Meanwhile, Mauro told Andy’s son Sam that he wanted to move to the hills and start a restaurant.
“It came up a treat and I think it set Gembrook off,” Andy said.
“When my son moved into the main street he had to complain to the police because of people doing burnouts on Thursday nights.
“There were people assaulted, and it was really going down.
“The whole place has changed.
“It’s going more towards a little Healesville rather than a run-down country town.”
