Words and photos Carol Altmann

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #DC943C;”] B [/dropcap]luestone took a short winter’s break recently and when we returned, we found not one, but two fabulous and funky new cafes had sprung up in Warrnambool.

Both – Graze, and Rough Diamond – have slotted in to what is fast becoming the most vibrant and interesting part of the CBD, around Kepler, Koroit and Fairy streets, where the historic shopfronts are being restored, long-empty buildings are slowly filling and, perhaps most importantly for small businesses, the rents are much cheaper than in the city centre.

This combination was irresistible to Henry Bird, a familiar face around the Warrnambool cafe scene since his early involvement in Brightbird Espresso (which also serves some of the best coffee in town), who together with his wife, Katherine, is behind Rough Diamond.

Henry and Katherine have gutted and refitted what was surely one of the most uninspiring buildings in Koroit St; a dark, 1970s, low-profile brick place opposite the former Warrnambool Standard building that has had many incarnations, most recently as a Coca Cola office.

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #DC943C;”] T [/dropcap]he Birds have give the building an entirely new look and feel with recycled timber furnishings (made by Port Fairy craftsman Jordan Small using timber salvaged from renovations on Henry and Katherine’s home), plenty of natural light pouring in, and a cute patio area with fake grass and milk crate tables.

“That’s where the name of the cafe from, actually, because this place was such a rough diamond,” Henry explains.

“It was perfect for us, though, because we wanted to be off Liebig St, not only because it is more affordable, but because of what is happening around Fairy St and Kepler St.

“There are a lot of people putting themselves out there and giving things a go, which is creating a whole new feel to this area.”

Such is Henry’s reputation for knowing what “works” with a cafe, Rough Diamond featured in The Age Good Food section just three days after opening, (you can read the review here),  all of which adds to the sense that Warrnambool’s cafe culture is gathering cred.

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #DC943C;”] J [/dropcap]ust an espresso shot away from Rough Diamond is Graze, a combination cafe and gourmet deli that replaced the long-standing Lozzar’s in Kepler St.

“This is something we have wanted to do for a long time, to have our own business and to run our own cafe,” says owner Moira Aberline, who recently returned to Warrnambool after 10 years in the UK, where she met partner Paul Riley.

Both Moira and Paul worked in hospitality, with Paul a former chef’s consultant in several fine dining restaurants that were known for their “rosettes” as opposed to the “chef’s hat” system used in Australia.

Like so many other ex-pats of her generation, Moira felt the time was right to return home and the pair wasted no time in applying what they had learnt overseas to Warrnambool. The completely remodelled cafe is both cosy and modern and, even on a mid-Winter’s day, busy.

“It has been fabulous: we have been really overwhelmed by the support we have received and to be part of the buzz that is happening around here,” Moira said.

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #DC943C;”] A [/dropcap] lot of that buzz can be traced to Day Kitty, right next door to Graze, which about 18 months ago moved into the tired shop once occupied by Flaherty’s chocolates and turned it into a gorgeous space of marine ply and white tile.

The purely organic focus of the cafe became its very appealing point of difference and owner Victoria Carey is in the process of taking that one step further by offering organic groceries and fresh food.

With the pioneering Wyton’s across the road and Bohemia, another early arrival, a little further along toward the highway, Kepler St is barely recognisable from the days when pretty much the only cafe on offer was the quaint Kepler Kettle.

“Oh, I used to love the Kepler Kettle! It was just gorgeous,” Moira says with a laugh.

Now, however, it’s the espresso machines that are giving Kepler St and its surrounds a full head of steam.

[box]You can find Rough Diamond (M-F, 7-2) on Facebook here. Find Graze Urban Cafe and Deli, (M-F, 7-5; Sat 7-3) on the web here. Day Kitty is on Facebook here and Bohemia Cafe and Bar here.[/box]

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By Carol Altmann

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A02F2F;”] W [/dropcap]hen a groovy cafe with fantastic food opens on the main street of a small country town that happens to be enroute to Melbourne, you might expect a steady trade.

But nothing – not even a former career as an international flight attendant with Qantas – could prepare Cheyanne Ainsworth and her husband Chris for the phenomenal response to their venture, Front Paddock Cafe & Larder, which opened about eight weeks ago in what passes for downtown Derrinallum.

The town officially has a population of around 500, but many, many more than that pass through each day on their way to or from Melbourne and, up until now, it has been a long drive between delicious food and brewed coffees.

“It has been amazing,” Cheyanne says in between serving customers. “My friends say, ‘what did you expect?’ and I didn’t imagine this.”

Soon after opening, the cafe – which offers breakfast, lunch and dinner – was selling out of its entire supply of gourmet sandwiches, rolls, cakes (brought in from the cake capital, St Kilda, no less), pies and generously proportioned sausage rolls which have quickly gained a cult following.

Even during our visit last week, a backpacking cyclist wandered in, put his hands on the counter, smiled and said “I’m hungry and I have been told this is the place to come.”

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A02F2F;”] O [/dropcap]f course a memorable cafe also needs style, character and atmosphere and this is where Cheyanne’s family history comes into play.

Her father, Bob, who occasionally drops in to help with the dishes, was a drover and Cheyanne is affectionately known as “DD” – drover’s daughter.

This strong rural connection is reflected not only in the name of the cafe – more about that shortly – but the beautiful fittings, including several wool classing tables bought at a clearing sale, that have been topped with glass and are used for shared dining and larger groups.

Related story: Mt Elephant rises from its slumber 

There are also salvaged saleyard signs and the inspired use of a bookmaker’s board where the tote prices reflect the coffee prices – except where Cheyanne has added “50 cents” because the old tote prices didn’t have that option.

“A lot of what you see here comes from people who Dad has known for years,” she explains.

Chris, who is a registered builder and bricklayer but also has a background in running family hotels, put the whole space together in what was previously an old butcher shop.

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A02F2F;”] I [/dropcap]f life wasn’t busy enough for the pair, Cheyanne and Chris have continued to work a mixed farm with “Bob the drover”, who manages both his own property and theirs.

So when they are not working in the Front Paddock, they could be working in the other front paddock – their Derrinallum property which carries Berkshire pigs, lamb and beef.

“By the end of the year we hope that all beef, lamb and pork served on the table is from our farm,” Cheyanne says.

“It has all happened at once, but we got to the point where we thought life was too short not to do what we have wanted to do for a long time.”

Which brings us to the name of the cafe.

The pair had hoped to call it the Long Paddock – a droving term – but so many ventures were already using that name that they instead opted for the Front Paddock.

“The front paddock is your best paddock, the one that everyone sees, so it works,” Cheyanne says.

Judging by the response so far, this is one front paddock that is perfect for happy grazing.

[box]The Front Paddock Cafe & Larder is at 24 Main St, Derrinallum. Open for breakfast and lunch every day, but closed on Tuesday. Dinner is available Thursday-Sunday nights. Bookings: (03) 5597 6880 Find them on Facebook here. The cafe is finalist in the 2015 Savour Australia Restaurant & Catering Awards in the category of New Restaurant – Victoria Regional.[/box]

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By Carol Altmann

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #DC943C;”] I [/dropcap]f you want to see Mark Brightwell animated, get him talking about coffee.

Together with his wife, Katrina, Mark operates the highly successful Brightbird Espresso in Warrnambool (founding partner Henry Bird has since moved on to other ventures) which has developed a reputation for not just serving great coffee, but taking coffee drinkers on an adventure.

This means urging customers to not only try different coffee styles that go beyond the normal latte, cappuccino and short black, but to experiment with and learn about the beans themselves.

“We are pushing the boundaries and it is a big risk, but it is one we wanted to take,” says Katrina.

“That’s right,” adds Mark, “it’s about talking with customers about the coffee and educating them, teaching them, about the coffee.”

And there is much to learn.

As Mark explains, coffee drinking in Australia has followed a similar trajectory to wine, with a growing awareness of different coffee regions, the ethical and organic origins of the coffee beans, how they are roasted, brewed, and the ever-expanding range of flavours based on all of these elements.

Take, for example, this description of the cup character of the Yirgacheffe bean, grown in the Rift Plateau of Ethiopia: “Raspberry! Crisply but lushly sweet and fruit toned. Flowers, blueberry, peach. Softly crisp acidity: full, lively mouthfeel.”

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #DC943C;”] Y[/dropcap]irgacheffe is one of the many varieties supplied to Mark and Katrina from Cartel Coffee Roasters Australia, a boutique coffee roaster based in Geelong that sources ethically grown, small-batch coffee direct from the farmers and their families in Ethiopia and Columbia.

Brightbird hooked up with Cartel Coffee Roasters about four months ago and Mark has been relishing the opportunity to bring a dash of inner-urban coffee culture to the country.

“Coffee bars are huge in Melbourne and we love to get down there, see what is happening and bring it back here to try,” he said.

“It is what keeps us interested and inspired because it is always changing and evolving. It keeps us fresh.”

[box] Mark’s four essentials for a great coffee in a cafe:

1. the quality of the beans

2. the quality of the equipment ($15,000 for an espresso machine; $3000 for a grinder)

3. the maker – well trained, passionate about coffee and able to work consistently well under pressure. [/box]

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #DC943C;”] A [/dropcap]s part of the educational experience, Mark occasionally hosts “cupping” sessions on a weekend with the team from Cartel Coffee Roasters who give participants the equivalent of a wine tasting, except with different coffee beans and brews.

Coffee connoisseurs can sample and sip and savour the flavours that run from chocolate to fruit to spicy and earthy. They can also learn about different ways of brewing and serving coffee, from 12-hour, cold-brewed (delicious served chilled on an ice-cube) to slow-filtered coffee served in a tall beaker.

It is not surprising to find that Mark, who is British-born and has worked in hospitality his whole career, was once a sommelier and also worked in a wine store.

“I have done lots of things in my time in hospitality, but this is a new challenge for me – the focus has become the coffee and I find it fascinating,” he says.

It is also a way to keep Brightbird Espresso from ever becoming predictable. The cafe started four years ago when Mark and Katrina moved from Melbourne to Katrina’s hometown (she grew up as a Malseed, in Woolsthorpe) to raise their children.

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #DC943C;”] N[/dropcap]ot only has the cafe built up a loyal following in that time – including a couple of elderly gents on zimmer frames who have been customers for years – but its expansion into speciality coffee has attracted a whole new clientele.

Pairing the coffee with gourmet donuts, created by chef Jimmy Buscombe and served only on Thursdays, has also created somewhat of a frenzy.

“We have people almost elbowing each other out of the way to get to those donuts before they sell out,” Katrina laughs.

“There is no doubt that we are even busier than we were before…and there is still not a day that I don’t love coming to work,” Mark says.

[box]Brightbird Espresso is at 157 Liebig St, Warrnambool. Find them on Facebook here and the web here. Also keep an eye out for their small barista training classes. (The February class is already full.)[/box]

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[dropcap style=”color: #a5cecd;”] A [/dropcap]mid all the gloom of shops closing in Warrnambool, the city’s burgeoning cafe scene is stepping up to the plate to show how funky places can not only survive, but thrive.

The wonderfully named Day Kitty cafe is among the newcomers, having taken over the former – and famous – Flaherty’s Chocolate Shop building in Kepler St, right next door to the Capitol Cinema.

Since opening six months ago, the cafe with a striking black-and-white decor has carved out a niche market with its emphasis on organic that includes home-made, artisan milkshakes and icecreams, fresh-pressed juices, light meals, salads and hot drinks.

It is like a soda fountain, meets a coffee shop, meets a gourmet salad-and-juice bar – and it works.

[dropcap style=”color: #a5cecd;”] W [/dropcap]arrnambool sisters Victoria and Elizabeth Carey are behind the venture, although Elizabeth insists she is simply “helping out” Victoria, who created the dream and has pulled all of the pieces together.

Both are former scientists who, after 10 years in their respective fields (the sisters were born two years apart), decided they wanted to do something completely different with their lives.

Victoria worked in dairying manufacturing at Murray Goulburn, in Koroit, where she gained all of the experience necessary to break out into making artisan icecreams that would use only organic ingredients.

The waffle cones, which are hand-made by Elizabeth, use the egg whites leftover from the icecream.

The cafe’s icecream and milkshake bar harks back to the hey-day of Flaherty’s, who were known not only for their extraordinary array of chocolates – particularly at Easter – but for the entire Flaherty family each taking a turn at serving icecreams and milkshakes to cinema goers.

“I knew exactly the sort of cafe I wanted to have, and I knew it had to be here, in this building,” Victoria says.

“We have had different members of the Flaherty family drop in to see how it looks, and that has been really lovely,” she adds.

[dropcap style=”color: #a5cecd;”] B [/dropcap]efore joining her big sister at Day Kitty, Elizabeth specialised in the remediation of contaminated land so it is not surprising that she, too, has a strong commitment to sustainability.

“We try and recycle and reuse as much as we can. Our food scraps are composted and all of the cardboard is taken away and recycled,” she explains.

Even the cutlery and drinking straws are made from recycled bamboo – rather than plastic – although it did take a bit of trial and error to find the right straws.

“We started with some paper ones, but they fell apart before the drink was finished,” Victoria says, laughing.

Day Kitty is now “about 95 per cent organic”, according to Victoria, with a particular style of coffee bean proving to be the final, 5 per cent hurdle.

As for the name, it was chosen simply because it sounded good and is easy to remember.

“It was going to be Day Kitty-Night Owl, because we had planned to eventually open in the evening and offer cheese platters with a nice glass of wine,” Victoria says.

That may still happen, but for now the pair is happy to keep growing the business during daylight hours. The next chapter is about to unfold, with the hiring of a chef so that they can expand their lunch and breakfast menu.

“One day I would really like to also run an organic fruit and vege store, but that is a little further down the track,” Victoria says.

[box type=”bio”] Day Kitty, 53 Kepler St, Warrnambool is open Mon to Fri 8.30 to 5.30 and Sat 9-5. Ph: 5561 6921[/box]

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Cafe Bagdad pops up in Penshurst