The Grace Darling Hotel in Collingwood is one of Melbourne’s most iconic heritage pubs. In 1990, at just 24 years of age, I became the licensee of this historic bluestone hotel—the birthplace of the Collingwood Football Club.

Together with my late father Dennis Gowing and later my brother Chris, we transformed the Grace Darling into one of Australia’s most awarded dining pubs, earning industry recognition for exceptional food, wine, live music and hospitality.

How I became licensee at 24

Today is such a special day for me – it commemorates the anniversary of the day I became a publican. I was 24 years old and it was the 24th September 1990 at 12pm – to be precise. Lock, Stock ‘n’ Barrel is how you bought and sold pubs back then and my dad had decided we should go down the market from fine dining at Gowings Restaurant, East Melbourne and upsize to Gowings Grace Darling Hotel.

‘Oh, and by the way,’ he said. ‘You’re it’! In the late 1980’s the Grace Darling Hotel underwent major refurbishment by a hotel chain however, the concept of a themed hotel did not appeal to locals. It was all bright lights and plastic roses.

Who was Grace Darling?

Grace Darling was a celebrated English heroine who grew up in the lighthouse off the coast of Northumberland, UK. One night a storm breaks and Grace spots people in the waves and, determined to try to save them, rows out into the storm with her father to try to rescue them. The waves were enormous, and Grace had to steady the boat while her father pulled people aboard. By the time they returned to the lighthouse, they had saved nine souls who would otherwise have perished. It was an extraordinary act of bravery that made Grace famous.

So off I trotted to a part of Melbourne I had only visited a few times – Smith Street, Collingwood. Previously I would only venture to Smith Street to eat and drink Midori Slippers at the great Smith Street Bar & Bistro, owned by the indefatigable Max Fink, a guy who has set up and sold more successful restaurant businesses than most, and most recently known for his stunning Naked in the Sky venture.

This was the mid-eighties, and Max and his team were already doing awesome things with pub food, so I knew that if we built it, they would come. And they did.

Awards and recognition

When the Collingwood Football Club won the Grand Final in 1990, it was seen as a blessing, and thus a new era was born for this historic landmark. My dad, Dennis Gowing, died from a long battle with cancer on 6 December 1991.

For the next eight years, my brother Chris Gowing and I jointly owned and operated this historic hotel, reaping a raft of industry awards including 3AW’s Pub of the Year and a coveted Chefs Hat from The Age Good Food Guide.

Live music and Melbourne culture

During this era we turned Gowings Grace Darling into a multi-award winning culinary and entertainment emporium that featured fine food, vintage wines, prestigious artwork by Clifton Pugh and Tim Storrier, live acoustic performances by some of Australia’s finest artists including Colin Hay, Vika and Linda Bull, Stephen Cummings, Kerri Simpson, Leonardo’s Bride, Dan Warner, Nick Barker and helped launch the local career of The Waifs.

The Grace Darling Hotel was built in 1854. The two-storey building was constructed of bluestone and rendered brickwork with feature sandstone window surrounds and is of historical and architectural significance to the State of Victoria and was built in honour of the Northumberland heroine.

The birthplace of Collingwood Football Club

The hotel is of historical significance as the venue of the inaugural committee meeting of the Collingwood Football Club in 1892, at which a decision was made to form a football club to play in the new Victorian Football League in the hotel’s cellar. The use of a hotel for such purposes was not unusual, pubs serving important social and community functions in the absence of other venues and institutions in early Melbourne.

The hotel’s remarkable history

Over the past 150 years, this iconic landmark has had a colourful career. It is famed for being a hideout of the notorious Melbourne gangster Squizzy Taylor, a watering hole of businessman John Wren, whose life was well documented in Frank Hardy’s eponymous novel Power Without Glory.

A lasting legacy

Looking back, my years at the Grace Darling Hotel were about far more than running a successful restaurant and historic Melbourne pub. They shaped my understanding of leadership, hospitality, resilience and the power of bringing people together around exceptional food.

The lessons I learned within those bluestone walls continue to influence everything I do today—from developing wellness menus and consulting for luxury resorts to mentoring chefs, nutrition professionals and hospitality businesses. While my career has evolved from award-winning restaurateur to chef, clinical nutritionist and educator, the foundations remain the same: genuine hospitality, quality ingredients, innovation and creating memorable experiences.

The Grace Darling Hotel will always hold a special place in my story. It was where passion met purpose, lifelong friendships were forged, and a remarkable chapter of Melbourne’s hospitality history was written. I remain incredibly grateful to everyone who shared that journey and helped make it unforgettable.

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