Susanna Freymark
Ebony Bunting can’t stop smiling when she talks about the Exchange Hotel in Kyogle.
“I know the potential this place has,” Ebony said.
“And I think I know what the community wants.”
Ebony knows small towns – she grew up in Molong with a population of 1600.
“I worked at the pub there,” Ebony said.
She worked for a short time at the Exchange in 2023.
In recent times, she’s managed the Charcoal Inn and The Royal in Casino and enjoyed working at both places.
When the opportunity “popped up” to be involved with the Exchange Hotel, Ebony jumped at it.
“I want to take the menu back to the old school menu,” she said.
Ebony is passionate about old pubs and feels traditional pubs are dying.
The Exchange is certainly old – the 1928 building was rebuilt after a fire in 1927 which is why the pub is brick.
“We need to keep the original pubs. And bring this one back to a family friendly pub.”
There have been changes to the pub, but it is Ebony’s mission to return the pub to its community focus.
The pub is owned by Travis Robertson who bought it about a year ago.
Community will come first, she said.
“I want the community to come back. This is their home as much as it is mine.”
She’s bringing the courtesy bus back and has some exciting plans for events which she didn’t want to reveal just yet.
Ebony has the energy and drive to make it happen.
“I’m a 100% all or nothing girl,” she said.
Ebony lives at Piora. She brings chef Daniel Allen from The Royal with her to the Bottom Pub. Staff member Sophie McGregor is back in the kitchen too.
She praised staff member Marie Stanfield who has worked at the pub since 1975.
Marie said she worked at the pub when Peter Dimond was the publican in 1975.
Ebony said her strength running a pub was building her staff up.
“I build a family around me. I find their strengths. That makes the venue,” she said.