Desert Lantern Restaurant | Charles Darwin University

The Desert Lantern Training Restaurant in Alice Springs is designed to give hospitality and cookery students real-world experience in their industry.

Students will train, learn and offer the community a high-quality food experience while completing their certificate.

The restaurant is named after a species of plant found in Central Australia called Abutilon Leucopetalum, or 'Desert Lantern'. It gets its name from the bright yellow flowers it sprouts. Growing on hillsides, the Desert Lantern is commonly found at the base of rocks throughout the Red Centre, typically flowering after rain. Western Arrernte people are known to eat the cooked roots.

Student in training making colourful cocktails behind the bar

Training for students

Certificate II and III students

You’ll be supervised by one of our experienced chefs and will learn about a variety of cookery methods, the structure of menus and more. You’ll be serving customers, working behind the bar and undertaking fine dining and silver service.

Certificate IV students

You’ll have the opportunity to develop your management skills by supervising Certificate II and III students in real-life situations during the Desert Lantern’s opening hours.

Dine at the Desert Lantern

You can view the dates and availability for the restaurant in the brochure below.

Desert Lantern Restaurant brochure

Make a booking

To make a booking, please complete and email the booking form. Phone or walk-in bookings are no longer accepted.

We require 48 hours' notice for booking cancellations or rescheduling, subject to availability.
Patrons are responsible for their own booking dates and attendance on the night, as courtesy reminder calls have been discontinued.

Desert Lantern booking form

E: desert.lantern@cdu.edu.au

Payment

To secure your reservation, all meals must be paid for in advance. Once we have scheduled your booking, we will email you the link for online payment.

Any drink purchases on the night must be paid using EFTPOS, as we no longer accept cash payments.

Location

The Desert Lantern Training Restaurant is located on CDU’s Alice Springs campus. You can get to it via Entrance 2 of the CDU Alice Springs campus off Grevillea Drive.