Eight small restaurants in Melbourne and five in Sydney have each secured grants of $21,500 as winners of the American Express Backing International Small Restaurants grant program, which has returned for the third year.
American Express Australia and New Zealand vice president of global merchant network services, Robert Tedesco said, “This year we expanded Backing International Small Restaurants to include venues from Melbourne and Sydney and we received an incredible response with a record number of applications across both cities.
“Since its inception, the program has delivered almost $520,000 directly to small Australian dining venues, helping them to continue delivering meaningful contributions to their customers and community.”
Winning restaurants: Baby Elephant Café, Don Adan Coffee & I Should be Souvlaki.
Run in partnership with the International Downtown Association (IDA) Foundation and supported by Mainstreet Australia, small restaurant owners were invited to apply for grants to put towards expenses or improving their business.
IDA Foundation executive director, David Downey said, “We’re thrilled to announce the third cohort of restaurants selected for the Backing International Small Restaurants program. This year, we’ve expanded our reach to nine cities globally through the continued generosity of American Express. We’re proud to empower these extraordinary restaurants to thrive and strengthen the fabric of their neighbourhoods.”
Winning restaurants: Lazeeza Restaurant, Little Lagos & PBK Noodles.
Winners of the 2024 Backing International Small Restaurants grant program
Melbourne:
- Bojak Brewing, Dandenong
- Wilbury & Sons, Moorabbin
- PBK Noodles, Clayton
- Lazeeza Restaurant, Fawkner
- Baba Hawker, Brunswick
- Baby Elephant Café, Footscray
- The Backyard Café, Newport
- 1001 Nights, Mount Eliza
Sydney:
- Rising Sun Workshop, Newtown
- Rebels N Misfits, Darlinghurst
- Little Lagos Bistro & Bar, Newtown
- Don Adan Coffee, Mosman
- I Should Be Souvlaki, Newtown
Winning restaurants: Rebels n Misfits & Wilbury & Sons.
Rising Sun Workshop in Sydney said the grant came at the perfect time for their business, which provides a unique communal space in Newtown where motorcyclists can work on their bikes while enjoying a coffee or meal.
“Rising Sun Workshop is about breaking down the barriers of urban living, where people often don’t know their neighbours. We created this space to give city people a place to work on their bikes and it has grown into something much bigger—a community where everyone feels welcome. It’s more than a workshop or a restaurant—it’s a space where strangers can connect, share stories and help each other out. In a city where people can feel disconnected, we wanted to create a place where asking for help or offering a hand was second nature,” Rising Sun Workshop co-founder, Heleana Genaus said.
Rising Sun Workshop co-founder, Heleana Genaus. Photo Credit: Christopher Pearce.
“The Backing International Small Restaurants grant from Amex is helping us to keep improving our operations by making some much-needed changes to the kitchen and storage areas, which we wouldn’t have been able to make without it.”
Bojak Brewing in Melbourne, a 75-seater brewery, which was forced to close for much of two years following Covid, is using the grant to upgrade equipment and facilities in their business.
“This American Express grant is great because it’s helping us afford improvements that we couldn’t otherwise. We’re excited to be able to install permanent gas heaters in the outdoor beer garden, making it a perfect year-round spot for families and beer lovers alike,” Bojak Brewing owners, Sue and Dale Messina said.
“The grant is also enabling us to invest in new kitchen flooring and better equipment like a new density meter to provide more precise measurements and streamline the brewing process, as well as a carton box-taper to improve efficiency when packaging beer.”
Globally, the program has more than doubled the annual grant funding to US$1 million (AU$1.49 million), up from US$435,000 (AU$647,000) in 2023. This year, 70 small and independently owned restaurants will receive grants of up to US$15,000 each. In 2024, the program is reaching four new cities including Manchester, Melbourne, Montreal, and Osaka, in addition to London, Mexico City, Sydney, Tokyo, and Toronto which were already a part of the program.