The Painted Horse Cafe made its first appearance in the Good Food Guide in 2019 and the second listing in the 2020 edition for is a huge honour according to owner Nicole McIlwaine.

"It's really wonderful," she said.

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"I had an 18 year career in Sydney in fine dining and that's where I met my partner.

"We then had a cafe in Leura and in Sydney before we opted out for the country, where we come across this place in Sofala."

Ms McIlwaine described the Painted Horse Cafe as a "true local cafe".

"When we took on the cafe, we decked it out with bric-a-brac and fitted it out with rusty memorabilia, like shovels and rabbit-traps," she said.

"We make all our food here - bread, pastry, jams. We look to utilise as much local produce as we can."

The Painted Horse Cafe - located on Denison Street at Sofala - opened back in January, 2018, by Ms McIlwaine and her partner Kate Geale.

Ms McIlwaine experience includes six years with Australian-Italian chef royalty Stefano Manfredi, with the pair's last cafe being the Black Pony in Coogee.

The Painted Horse Cafe is one of two eateries in the Bathurst region that was nominated for the 2020 Good Food Gide, the other being Dogwood BX.

It was the second consecutive year that Dogwood BX was listed in the guide.