Newsy nibbles – who’s new on the block, most expensive Aussie coffee bean, eating a gingerbearded man, help the homeless with coffee, local winners, breaking bread and cheat's meal tip.
New kids on the block
- Billykart Kitchen, Ben and De O’Donoghue’s new Annerley eatery is set to open on Friday with a seasonal and produce-driven menu and the promise of warm and welcoming service. Find it at Eric Crescent, Annerley.
- Happy Little Dumplings has opened yet another store, this time in MacArthur Central in Brisbane CBD.
- Malaya Corner on Elizabeth Street is a new place to find cheap and authentic Malaysian and Singaporean hawker style delights. Think beef rendang, nasi lemak and seafood laksa or Malaysian penang prawn noodle soup and sweet herbal and pork bone tea soup.
Australia’s most expensive bean
Beating off international competitors Japan and Taiwan, who usually snap up the winning lots from the highly contested Best of Panama coffee auction, Campos have bought Ironman Geisha to Australia at the cost of $100 per 150g.
This coffee is so special it even comes with a complementary cupping session, but you can’t try it in store. It is only available as a filter roast, only available online and only for about a month.
The Esmeralda farm’s Geisha tree is rare and fragile but the uniquely flavoured coffee it produces has set the speciality coffee world a blaze creating a huge price spike. The flavours include sweet tangerine citrus, orange, pineapple blossom, jasmine, milk chocolate and rose.
Campos Director John Ronchi (pictured above) says Campos bought 68 kilos of the coffee which was the entire auction lot.
It’s called Iron Man because the farmer who grows it, Roberto Brenes, regularly competes in ironman competitions. www.camposcoffee.com
What’s a Beerkary Bakery?
Where can you find a gingerbearded man, a verbena snail and Æblekage (not even sure what that is)? Head to Scratch Bar at Park Road, Milton on Sunday October 20 for their Beerkary Bakery where custom-made, craft beers with be served with beer matched pastries.
Recognising that brewing and baking share a similar craft and science, as well as some base ingredients the inventive folk at Scratch are bringing together pastries by chef, Ben Devlin, and beers by Brewtal Brewers Jon Burnett and Tim Goulding.
Match your Ginger Nut beer with a gingerbearded man or a ginger curd and hazelnut tart. For the Applewood Amber the match is Æblekage (please someone tell me what this is) and grilled pork with applewood beer bread. Citrus Ale (with lemon verbena) is matched with a verbena snail and a brioche with cured salmon. Sounds intriguing. The pastries cost from $4 to $6 and will be available from 10am. scratchbar.com
Café pays it forward
Congratulations to Brisbane-based café BAM Espresso for their Pay A Sack Forward initiative which is designed to reduce the pressure of everyday life for the homeless by providing basic necessities.
For $5, BAM customers can purchase a sack filled with essential items such as a pillow, blanket, tinned food and long-life beverages, bottled water and basic hygiene items such as deodorant and toothbrushes which will be passed on to a homeless person.
BAM Espresso channels all of the profits from each cup of premium quality Di Bella Coffee, supplied complimentary by Di Bella, to purchase the sack contents.
BAM Espresso owner Michael Stafford says a national rollout is planned for the Pay A Sack Forward program for cafés using Di Bella Coffee.
“Our plan is to partner with Di Bella Coffee to stagger the roll out across Australia, with our sights firmly set on Melbourne for the first quarter of 2014, Sydney in the second quarter and onward from there,” he said. “We are shooting big, and I’d like to think that we could achieve 2,500 outlets implementing this worthy program by the end of 2014.”
Pay A Sack Forward sacks can currently be purchased at BAM Espresso at 3 Julia Street, Fortitude Valley from Tuesday to Friday, 7.30am – 1.00pm. www.facebook.com/bam.espresso
www.facebook.com/PayASackForward
Double win
Story Bridge Hotel's Shelter Bar has just taken out the award for Best Bistro at the Australian Hotels Association (AHA) 2013 National Awards for Excellence. Richard Deery (pictured above), owner and Managing Director of the Hotel, was also inducted into the AHA Hall of Fame.
Breaking bread
Jocelyn’s Provisions is now selling artisan bread baked by Phil Agnew. Made using specially sourced stoneground single origin flours from organic farms, Phil is rolling out sourdough loaves, pane di casa and batards with spelt and rye loaves as well as a small collection of fruit and walnut breads to follow. www.jocelynsprovisions.com.au
This week I’m liking
Don’t tell the family but last week I managed to get two meals for the price of one. Lunch with the girls was a selection of salads from fabulous salad shop, Botanica. For dinner I recycled the left over salads in cos lettuce leaf cups and served them with some marinated barbecued chicken thighs. Tasted and looked awesome.
Kerry Heaney
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