Union Café 

12th Nov

 

The Union Café - a hospitable hangout that warms the bellies of many as they bounce, amble and meander their way in for fills of healthy, wholesome and edible goodness. An energy contagious place. Locally roasted ‘East Timor maubisse’ Mahalia Coffee is always made with care. Your latte will be as consistent as the smiles on diles from Hamish and Alana and the uniting team.

    As the weather warms, tries to warm, the surfing community begins to swoon with delight with the change of water temperament and the step down of the thickness of wetsuits. Regular early morning runs for waves occur at a time when most are still intimate with pillows and pj’s… The end point for the eager friends of the sunrise, wax and waves is destination Union Café. Surf talk and sand battered feet chat and pat comfortably with thawing fingers clasping hot mugs.

 

 

 

The junction where the Union is perched opens into outdoor undercover dining that is blocked of the infamous Robe wind for when it blows with the force of Nature in a mood. On the days of calm, the wind shields ascend and the area is a communal spot to watch the center of town pass by, minus pedestrians walking close enough to breath over your Breakfast wrap with Cantina Kick and hash browns. A generous and inviting space. 

The best falafel wrap that I've had the pleasure of ingestion gets its introduction to plate by Hamish here. Grab it toasted if you have time. Burgers menu covers three that you really want to see. Mexican, Scotch steak and crumbed chicken. Shoestring fries as the side – your sodium intake is justifiable here as these babies are thin and crisp and not gleaming with oil as often one comes to expect.

Ben Howard or The Stone siblings often harmonise your audial experience. If you are in alone for your grasp of delectable Café solitude, the magazine arms on the wall by the table water will give your eyes and mind the time of ‘Surfing world’ to ‘womens health’ to ‘Marie Claire’. Jenny also loves a chat. The lovely lady with the biggest smile. Scones that have never gone wrong.

The man shredding a wave on the fridge doesn't mind an audience either...

Simon Burr's Long Lunch - Sunday the 6th of October at noon.

Hosting occasion - 'Art in the Sticks - family' Exhibition at 'Cluain'

23rd September 2013

Over the long weekend in October, an addition to Christa and Hamish's annual art exhibition is a Long Lunch.

'Art in the Sticks' is true to its word. Artists from the region gathering to exhibit their talents on the beautiful Macdonald family property 'Cluain.' The farm yard focus will be on the shearing quarters and shed where the work of painters, sculpture, furniture design, photography, and jewellery will be at home for Saturday and Sunday the 5th and 6th of October from 11am.

Featuring

Painting - Hamish Macdonald

Painting - Susie C

Furniture - Gray Hawk

Jewellery - Traci Chambers

Millenary - Rose Ampt

Photography - Michael Collett

Sculpture - Mark DeNys

See 'Art in the Sticks' Facebook Page for detailed profiles of the Artists an the exhibition.

'Art in the Sticks' extends to some colour on a plate this year, where guests are invited to dine within a stilted shearing shed that has been standing since 1952. Hamish's Grandfather  built the unusual, raised shed with timber gathered and trimmed from the property. Gathered and trimmed from the property on your plates are fundamental elements of the fare that Chef Simon Burr will prepare. Mutton, artichokes, herbs and eggs will be gathered from the surrounding greenery of the exhibition to be crafted into three courses. Seafood to start before the mutton takes on a middle eastern feel. Simon's 'Baby Brie' cheese I have written about in a previous post will come out of hibernation to compliment platters in the concluding mouthfuls. Coffee I shall roast and blend particularly for the event will be brewed to create dessert coffee pots - espresso set with cream and dusted with dark chocolate.

The ambience of eating in a space with filtering light cascading from the high roof and slatted floor won't be all to remind you that a restaurant is not where you sit. The artwork and the artists themselves will line the shed and table respectively - an opportunity to learn of their profession and the stories behind their exhibiting pieces.

There are many of these scattered in Robe and Lucindale with directions to guide you there.

Call Hamish 08 8769 6016 or Simon 0418 738 934 to book your seat for the Long Lunch.

Robe Providore

16th September 2013 

The Robe Providore has had a visual transformation over the past few weeks. Evelin and Anthony spent tiresome days planning and shifting the previous work space into a fluent, generous one. Customers can fill every region of the room now. The counter runs parallel to the back of the café in a long protrusion from the right wall. Slattered recycled timber from a near by shearing shed stretch across the counter front, where the backing is of the Providore signature red. Upholstered seating rims the space to the left in shades of red one would see in a ripening stonefruit tree. The vibrant gloss fire engine red of the railings and doors blend with the new and unique 'red board' that performs as her ancient relative the 'black board'. The 'red board' to the right boasts rotating specials, soup and wine in chalk.          

   Farewelling the pizza oven, an odds and ends hide out and a dividing wall - a staircase was born! An incline to a future dining room that invites with upholstered seating and fresh white paint on the walls. The timber steps are beautiful. Yet to be completed, but an addition to look forward to.

   The baked goods that Matt and Anthony perfect are the next best thing to fill your nostrils with than freshly ground coffee, in the wee hours of the morning. A bread shelf of recycled timber in the arce of a wave is home to the sourdough and baguettes the boys punch out daily. Croissants, almond and raspberry danishs, cinnamon scrolls, pain au chocolat, custard sea shells. An artful craft is that of making pastry for such decadent mouthfuls. Time and effort we can taste as the texture is like nothing else.

The breads and selected pastries can be purchased from 'Robe Fresh' and 'Robe Foodland'.

    Indeed, lots of visual change upon arrival. With menu in hand the changes continue with Anthony's newly invented 'Spring' menu.

Have room for brioche amongst your breakfast... There is a thick, fruit filled, house baked fruit toast to use to soak up butter... 'Meeks Butcher' from Penola is here in bacon and pork sausages... Macadamia dukkah, fresh herbs and goats curd atop the 'Smashed Avocado', a dish available Breakfast and Lunch with some variations to test the self of habit in you.

   Both Breakfast and Lunch menu's have a 'something light' and 'something more' section to cater for stomachs throughout their sensitive to less sensitive states. An egg and bacon brioche bun can sit comfortably in the palm of your hand. An offering of the egg and bacon roll without the grand size that can inject lead in your shoes for the morning. The bun is pleasantly rich and mildly sweet. Great with some runny yolk to bath it.

 

 

 

 

'Big Kids boiled eggs' has a small army of truffle scented cheesy soldiers ready for a digestion march.

The 'Eggs Benedict' remains with a change to its base of sourdough to briouche. The 'Eggs Salmon' plates mightily pretty with hues of vivid purple of beetroot, crimson green of al dente asparagus, pink salmon and a ladle of dill dotted hollandaise. Built on the square tinned baked brioche that is taking the Providore Breakfast menu by the horns.

   Lunch time fold over tortillas for 'something light'. Filled baguettes for ease of fast takeaway or dine in. 'Fish of the day' will change with availability of the fresh, finned, furless things and the price will reflect so. 'Marinated chicken salad' is a flamboyant, light plate comprising of mango, lettuce, macadamia dukkah, cherry tomato, cucumber and baguette to nest the tender chicken. Brioche appears at lunch too with an epitome of pork and bun working as one. 'Roast pork brioche bun' with apple slaw, chilli jam and beer battered chips. In the centre of the board, Anthony smears a little aioli with a dehydrated pork crackle crumb. Also, a sweet, aromatic 'thai green curry' and a 'portugese toasted chicken wrap' are evident on the 'something more' lunch section. Kids can peruse a menu for both breakfast and lunch as well. Hot and cold drinks for young and older. No one is left out.

   A small but thoughtful wine list is the key to having a glass of a Rymill Sauvignon Blanc or Tim Gramp Grenache over your grazing, lazing, gazing outing. Perhaps not available with an early breakfast of muesli.

    Robe Providore is open 7.3 am until 4 pm each day excluding Tuesdays, where the doors are closed and the muscle behind the flavours, smells and textures rest.

The Hottop Roaster

19th August 2013

 

Missing and craving the dreamy aromatics and sounds of a tumbling drum of coffee beans. Their metamorphose from the solid pebbles they initially resemble, into a soft, delicately brittle roasted bean, boasting effervescent oils and flavour. I found myself with quite an immediate dint in my MasterCard and an incredibly shiny little home roaster.

 

 

      The very manually operatable electric KN 882-8B 2 Hottop machine gives the Roaster control on such variables as drop temperature, time, fan speed and fuel value. The ease of altering such variables  at any time during the roasting process has quite an immediate effect as the batch size is so small. So responsive. A bean temperature probe that has been built in on request gives an accurate reading of the bean temperature for comparison to the ambient temperature within the drum. Graphing the nature of the ambient vs bean temperature, for fun, exhibits sections of the roast where the beans are working exothermically - creating their own bursting energy. An intoxicating activity within the bean that exudes scent and sound.

Five roasts so far - El Salvador, Mexican, Guatemalan, Colombian and Tanzanian. All gathering some age to be poked and prodded through extracting and infusing vessels...

Taste!





Baby Brie Birth
19th August 2013

 

The slightly tangy, plump, rind bound disc of ripened cows milk found its furry feet in France in the 13 th century. In Robe, Simon Burr brought a swirling pot of Fleurieu milk up to a steady 36c at the Caledonian Inn two weeks ago. Spectating, stirring and turning, I was astounded by the importance of accuracy in measurement, time, temperature and technique. Thoughts ventured back to the centuries nearer to the Brie's birth to those Artisans without the shiny thermometers.

Fleurieu cows milk teemed into the immaculately sterile saucepan between beautiful blobs of cream that surfaced in the bottle, thanks to the unhomogonized nature of the creamy yellow dairy. The milk to be cheese, must be of a pasteurized source, says the rule in Australia. French born Louis Pasteur's discovery of pasteurization now has endless circles of flavour chasers beckoning the return of raw milk for artisan cheese. Where pasteurization is a heating of a perishable food product to destroy harmful pathogens, the heating process is believed by some to detrimentally diminish the flavour of milk. In the context of cheese, the milk building blocks of mystery of flavour are lacking from the very start, if true! May this perhaps be explored in the near future for the benefit of our Sunday afternoon cheeseboards...

   The starter culture over night transformed into a substance alike to homemade set yoghurt. This starter is a bacteria that feeds on the lactose in the milk, producing a product of lactic acid - the origin of the wonderful tang we savour in the tasteful smelly parcels. The starter was added at 10.25 am Wednesday morning. Stirred in with no trace of a lump, the temperature of the creamy yellow goodness read a perfect 36c. (The starter solution is prepared earlier to allow time to check that the starter is active. A positive result, is that the starter will set a small volume of milk in given time.) An 11 am scheduled check of the milk to assess the ripening process resulted in smiles.

 

    The curdling - the close to instantaneous coagulation of a fluid body of milk, into a set mass alike to silken tofu. The addition of rennet is the catalyst for this. Historically, concocted with lining from the inside of a calf's fourth stomach... However, we used the common synthetic, vegetarian version, chymogen. The active enzyme in the rennet speedily brought us to a stage where the utensil in Simons hand needn't be a spoon but a knife. Cutting symmetrically to allow increased surface area for the newly born whey to drain from their neighbouring curd. The solid components being tucked into their moulds for further draining, turning and spraying with spores. Adopting a taught and shapely physique, after five regular turns over the space of eighteen hours, the round discs were immersed in a bath of 20% brine for 30 mins. The baby Brie equipped with an injection of preservation before further inoculation of the white mould spores.

The technicalities of accurate measurement of the cheese's perimeters of time and temperature eased. The following days were a relaxed rhythm of turning for internal distribution of the moisture, requiring less and less physical nurturing. Their plump round bodies were bound snuggly in cheese paper Saturday, for a further week in a non refrigerated environment. A further 8-12 weeks in a maturation cellar at 8 to 12 degrees, 90% moisture will be mimicked in the cool, damp Caledonian Inn cellar.
The patience challenge of abstaining from curling open a corner and indulging in a curious nibble, will have to keep intact.

Argentina in Robe

 21st July

The crackling of sweet, basking local pig in licking flame and radiating heat, perched on assadores was quite the stimulus for a Spring Sunday afternoon.

 

The cook at the BBQ, with tongs, or in this instance, huge knives and jousting sticks is the Asador. Scott Fennell wore this hat, prepping, prodding for plating his pig in Di and John Stewarts backyard, catering for what could be a sixty person Asado. Twenty locals and enthused visitors to Robe sipped and nibbled crackling crumbs, huddling around the coals of a red gum stoked cooking source. The pink previous pig was toasted for 9 hours, 'al asador', arched and stretched over flame and mirages of heat drifting from the amber mound below. Aside the bouts of rain, enthusiasm was not lost in the anticipation of the pork to be acquainted with her table size chopping board.

 

 Champagne for laughing ladies. Little creatures scoping out fire and pig gazing manliness pre feast. Favoring the hue of red, diners bought an array of vino tinto to compliment the long lunch. Some Italian bottles and beautifully aged local drops.

 Peppery roquette from the garden, salad slaws of crunch, colour and bite to cut through the big butteriness of the pig dotted the 7 meters of table. Providore's Anthony D'Augello baked for the occasion. Sweet burger buns - almost brioche like, without the density, to wedge all of the 9 hours of goodness for a 'lick your fingers' approach dining.

 

The Argentinian Asodo - interactive in preparation, observation and consumption! Here's Spring and Winter culinary fun for when the crays and boats are asleep.

Sails Restaurant - Variety Bash Fundraiser Dinner

29th July

 

 

 

 

The annual Variety Bash for children's charity has been kicked into a feverish, fun fundraising few months, thanks to a few locals making the time to do so. A golf day saw the pennies swinging in the right direction, an auction in Casterton, dinner at the church behind the Robe Providore with fare to feast by chef Anthony D'augello. An excuse to have wonderful company, thoughtful food and wine is admittedly invented by many without hesitation. However, these events were summoned for a cause beyond the benefit of filling our bellies and glasses.

 

Sails Restaurant presented a four course menu to conclude the stream of events for the fundraising. People layered and buffered from the cold, huddled in the spacious space. Anna Heffernan, Antony Kokiousis and Paul Bobridge glided around contented diners providing no reason for standing guests. The pace between the dishes perfected by the kitchen. The dining room embracing. More so as the pouring of the beautiful wines became a little adventurous into the narrowing glasses.

    Herbert Vineyard Pinot Gris offered a gentle introduction to food. Melony with a mild citrus awoke tastebuds. Wangolina, Karatta, Norfolk Rise, Koonara and Karatta could be sipped and were all staged when their bottle was grasped. Tempting Wines, 'Seductress Shiraz' recommended as the vino for the beef main course.   

    Dispersed throughout courses a $10 blind bottle of wine was yours by purchasing a numbered cork to correspond to a bottle in disguise. Eruptions of excitement animated the evening as numerous wines scattered tables. Raidis, Hollick and Bellwether amongst the generosity of the sponsoring Vineyards.

 

    Adam Brookes, Tom Tilbury and Hamish Curry were the boys with the pans and perfect pace. Amuse Bouche, Tempura oyster with pickled cucumber and citrus aioli started the salivary glands as the incredible texture of the light tempura batter contended with the unique sea creature some may normally debate to crunch or swallow whole. Here was the 'crunchers' oyster dish.

    Fresh seafood in tomato, saffron and vegetable stew for entrée. At the clearer end of a stew spectrum, this clean medley of tomato and vegetable was complimentary to the delicate SA seafood.

    Appreciate shredding strings of beef after a long braise in the prodible, tender form that is ever so comforting in the months of cold. Main course - Braised beef rib of this calibre, potato galette, onions, pea and horseradish puree. Tight potato galette in micro layerd slithers, peppery bites of horseradish that danced throughout the crisp allaciousness of gentle battered onion and daring beef. Most silent  moments of the table appearing here in satisfaction.

    Lemon and vanilla pannacotta with poached pear and rhubarb tea was the icing on the cake without the cake or the icing. Fourth course, dessert and a delicate completion to the eating of the evening. Pear as dark as well baked quince, herbaceous tea for the crunch of a sesame seed toffee and soft panacotta to swim in shallowly.  

    Memorable dining correlated to a memorable effort for Children's Charity. Some of the things that bring us together to dine.

Snippets of Sips - Coastal Leader

June

Picture: Cape Jaffa Cellar Door 

A column exploring Robe and the South East's talents in their Culinary endeavours.

Enthusiasts channelling their passion and knowledge into mediums for cutlery and glassware enjoyment.   

We have an abundance of such people proximal to us, transforming their foodie creations into accessible ones.

The regular snippet of insight into these palatable crafts and founders, aspires to be an informative and interactive way to learn of our local members of the community and produce.

Appearing in the Coastal Leader newspaper regularly and open to your ideas and feedback.

ABC - Tasha Impey

 

A big thanks to Tasha from ABC South East, SA. Accommodating me into her crazy story chasing Cross Media Reporting routine on Tuesday. Our chat at the Union Café Robe about my little world of coffee obsessing was brought to life in a radio interview Wednesday, a thorough capturing of my journey into the world of the caffeined beans. For those to read, Tash has put together an article based on the interview with a link to my blog. Love the love of the South East! Enjoy your South America adventure Tash. Drink some coffee out of a sock.

 

http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2013/06/12/3779953.htm?site=southeastsa

Melbourne International Coffee Expo 2013

    To commence the immersion into a caffeinated paradise, one had to slide snail style along Racecourse Road behind the thousands looking towards an entire complex of dedication to coffee and the nerdy aspects that make the beans work. Melbourne Showgrounds catered again for the largest Coffee Expo Australia has ever seen. More than 10,000 sets of feet trundled through the pavilion over the four days. Hosting international professionals for both the stage and stalls, one's pallet was not the only sense that was stimulated. The most advanced of roasting, extraction, packaging design and equipment gleamed in every direction. The wafts of coffee grounds for pour over, chemex, cold drip, espresso and traditional cupping channelled between the sharp panes of Slayers, La Marzocco's, Spirits, Probate, Probatones, Dietrich...

Beautiful aromatics and texture of beans from remote and intriguing corners of the globe. Varietals and process method took centre stage for cup profile characteristics. Rather than specifically their country of origin, the respect for the varietals of cultivars that shine through is a brilliant relatively new focus. Immaculately graded coffee. Quality and not quantity was everywhere and I was in heaven.  

  Many honey processed, red, yellow and orange bourbons, Colombian, Costas, Centrals and Africans on tables. Light roast styles dominating for the gentle infusion of the pour overs, rather than extracting methods. Also the tendency of the coffees performing best under such conditions. To have a darker espresso roast running through my fingers was few and far between. Lots of light, dense little beans.

Within a two day visit espresso, piccolos and filter tastings glided from cup to lips in a repetitious fashion. Stop one near to the entrance was Campos Coffee. Cupped Colombian El Manana COE # 9, Fazenda Sera Do Sao bento COE # 2, Kenyan Tchakakhani AA and a Roberto Achieve micro lot. The stand out Kenyan had a fragrance of mangoes. The greener mango tannin giving the cup a amiable dryness. Stronger body than acidity.

Wonderful enthusiasm around the table by the Campos team. Interactive, breaking down the shyness of those first time Cuppers. Sleek black packaging with clear imagery of farming and animals relative to the origin of the packaged beans.

Ducale saw the outlet to shed prolific coffee jitters. The DC Tunes chimed over the burring and steaming of machinery. People sampled the award winning 'Origin', the 'Monsoon' and 'Reale' blends. A big chocolaty, stone fruit sweet blend 'B-Side' linked with the support of the company's DC Tunes program. Part of the coffee sales wriggle their way into the appreciated bands that play for the Ducale beats program. Sharing and caring team of guys lifting the spirit further in the center of the Expo.

Brew Bar Single Origins - Whisked past this eye catching elongated brew bar stall to grasp a chemex of an Ardi Sidamo Guji Ethiopian, Natural Heirloom. Juicy cranberry. Preserved lemon, tight acidity left a bouncy reminder of the brew for moments after. Fighting for a gap in the cluster of listeners to an informative introduction to the coffee's home paddock. The farmer himself gave details of the reality of the growth and harvest and the conditions for the Graders responsible for the clean screen sizes, uniformity and lack of damaged and quakers. The hours poured over these seeds are fundamental for each stage after. The women (most commonly) deserve this acknowledgement for the tediousness of this crucial step. I have never liked my long black quaker ridden...

Single Origin Roasters, an awesome team from Sydney and in addition, Q/R Grader Andrew Hetzel representing CQI, Coffee Quality Institute. It wasn't espresso so much I was tasting here - but a fascinating exercise involving varying concentrations of several acids that occur in coffee throughout its roasting and extracting life. Mr Hetzel ran the informative quest to mimic an exercise one would be required to master if sitting a Q Grade Exam. Citric, Malic, Acetic, Phosphoric and tartaric acids were dribbled in sample cups of filtered coffee, for a wee tastebud challenge. Discussion of the influence of each acid in the mouth and circumstances where the each would be most prominent in the application world. Incredibly informative hour that has aided me in some roasting queries crossed whilst on the job. Wendy De Jong wonderfully assisted the exercise. Her 25 years of experience in coffee oozed onto the table to aid our clambering minds. Many of us eager to pick up the knowledge spilled.

       The 'Yee ha' espresso blend I packed in my bag for home. I have been chipping away at the beautiful medium roast through Nakeds at work. Rich, creamy caramel cup. Acid is mellow, but balanced. Toasty peanuts and raw sugar.

The Burundi I tasted on my heels out of the bustling stall was extracted well. Not a memorable cup for me - owed to the time of day where the tastebuds were wanting their cue to knock off with a beer and not another stimulant...

Market Lane Coffee, Mecca Espresso, Reuben Hills and Seven Seeds shared a stall at MICE. A short mac of the Reubin Hills Espresso blend was a great punchy experience. Grated cocoa texture that was silkened by the milk. The Colombians in this blend fervently tasteful. Groovy stand. The crew working the machines very cool and loving it.

Proud Mary and Latorre and Dutch magnified their stand for another year. The baby blue of espresso ceramic cups bobbed up and down around the brew/espresso bar as portafilters tapped clean and steam arms purged. The interludes of silence from the bar perpendicular were the sounds of gentle pour overs blooming and dribbling juice. No need to ask for a sample - you were handed samples like medication in a nursing home. The difference being a brigade of tasters with no resistance to sample these beautiful drugs. El Salvador's - honey processed, orange bourbon, a dryer cup than the neighbouring washed red bourbon. Tight and raspberry like. Same farm, El Mazano, but varied flavour profile due to their varietal, not origin location. Matt shared his experience with some honey processed coffee in Bali, reminiscing of the slimy mucilage feel of the parchment before drying.

When the information of the extraction and infusion from the Barista and Roaster angle began to consume you, several feet away Andres Latorre Canon could waltz you through a table of magnificent samples to cup. Tastes of crops to come to Australia. Outstanding Gieshas, Costa Rica and El Salvs. The Panama Giesha 'Hartmann' honey had the most distinct stewed apricot aromatics and flavour. The lively fizz alike to Fanta as Andres described. Patiently stepping through the evolution of change in the flavour profiles as the amber liquids cooled, this Panama and a Costa Rica 'Sanora' Villa Lobos shone as favorites. The table of 'El Manzano' El Salvadors bourbons, Costas and honey and natural Panamas were superior. Charged to see these gems being pampered in the roasting equipment in the near future.

 The Melbourne International Coffee Expo wasn't just another gathering of caffeined coffee professionals out to buy and sell and show and see. It was very much a stage for everyone to put their best toes forward in a huge Industry where pride plays a main character. Pride without arrogance or greed is a wonderfully powerful thing.

The exhibitors and industry enthusiasts shared and exchanged valuable knowledge that is better spread than kept for only a few to boast. It was very nice to feel on an equally passionate field as most at M.I.C.E 2013.