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.

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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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[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A02F2F;”] T [/dropcap]eetotalling has taken on a whole new meaning at the Panmure Hotel, with owner Annie Lenehan offering beer in the bar and a Bushells out the back.

In what might seem an unusual mix that actually works, Annie and partner Graeme Throckmorton have added a retro-style tearoom to the back of the pub where women – and it is mostly women – can enjoy an afternoon tea or even high tea.

“One older lady said to me that nobody serves scones with jam and cream anymore – well they do at the Panmure pub,” Annie says with a laugh.

Annie bought the historic hotel (built 1871) five years ago, but took over the lease in August 2012. She has since worked hard to make it very much a family friendly place and a country pub with a point of difference.

“It was a very traditional pub in the sense that it wasn’t the sort of place you could walk into and feel entirely comfortable,” Annie says.

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A02F2F;”] I [/dropcap]n earlier times, a hotel could get by offering cold beer, a bed and a basic meal, but expectations have changed.

“These days, pubs can’t survive by just selling beer over the bar anymore, you need to be able to cater for a very different clientele,” Annie says.

A tearooms decorated in rose pink and an eclectic mix of retro and vintage items collected over the years is about as different as it gets.

“Nothing in here matches,” Annie laughs, “but it works.”

The tearooms also contain a sample of the more than 200 teapots that Annie has collected for many years, despite being a non-tea drinker for most of her life.

“I only started to drink tea about five years ago,” she says.

“But I have always loved teapots!”

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A02F2F;”] A [/dropcap]nnie was born in Panmure and moved around the south-west quite a lot as a child and, later, in her 30-year career in hospitality.

She was living and working in Port Campbell when she decided to make the move back to her home town.

“I am a country girl. I really don’t like the city and can’t wait to get out of it when I go,” she says, and I assume she is talking about Melbourne, until she reveals it is Warrnambool.

Shortly after opening her tearooms, one of Panmure’s local identities, artist Glenda Hirth, dropped in to welcome her to the town and to see if she could host an event for the local Country Women’s Association.

“Glenda ran it by the CWA committee and they agreed. They had an absolute ball and have been coming here ever since,” Annie smiles, knowing endorsement by the local CWA is high praise indeed.

This more genteel side of the Panmure pub would surely meet the approval of the late Violet Meere, who helped her husband, Herbert Walsh, run the hotel in the early 1900s after being initially reluctant to work in such a male-dominated domain.

Annie hopes the tearooms will see the pub thrive into the future.

“Too many country pubs are closing down: well this one is not going to.”

[box]The afternoon teas, which are served at weekends, can be stylish or simple: Devonshire tea, mini high tea and a full high tea, with or without champagne. Groups by arrangement. Panmure Hotel, Princes Highway, Panmure. Ph: (03) 55 67 6270 [/box]

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[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #ABCCAB;”] A [/dropcap]t the risk of using a bad pun, a new alleyway café in the heart of Port Fairy is quite arresting – not least because it is run by a former police officer.

The Farmer’s Wife Harvest Cafe, tucked at the end of a gorgeous bluestone and rubble walled lane off Sackville St, is the latest venture for local Jo O’Keefe who has had what can only be described as a varied career.

Until last November, Jo was Senior Constable O’Keefe based at the Portland police station as part of a 10-year career with the thin blue line.

Prior to joining the force, however, she had spent most of her life in hospitality, including working in kitchens while studying – and completing – a Fine Art degree at Deakin University in Warrnambool in the early 1990s.

“Everyone used to call me the Cupcake Copper because I was better known for my scones and cupcakes that I would bring into work, than for any actual policing,” Jo laughs.

“I have always had a background in hospitality though and, since I was 18, worked in Lorne, Apollo Bay, Warrnambool and up at the snow fields.”

 

 

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #ABCCAB;”] A [/dropcap]fter the birth of her son, Tex, in 2000, Jo decided to scratch an itch that she had harboured since she was 12 years old, after one of the police horses visited her school in Melbourne.

“That horse, ‘Gendarme’, had me completely hooked and I was determined to join the force one day…I finally did, just before I turned 40,” Jo explains.

“I am not sure why, but I thought it might also be better for me as a single Mum, which I was at the time, but I didn’t factor in the night shifts,” she laughs.

As a result, Tex was “raised by the village” of Port Fairy with various friends chipping in to help when Jo moved there in 2006.

It has made Tex a well-adjusted kid, who now helps out making smoothies and juices in the café during school holidays, says Jo.

 

 

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #ABCCAB;”] F [/dropcap]our years ago, life took another turn when Jo married local farmer Scott Moore – hence the inspiration for the name of her café.

“I had been thinking about getting out of the force and I always wanted to run my own café, then this place came up and I jumped at it,” Jo says.

“I finished up work in November and, two weeks later, opened up the café in December.”

The café, which offers simple healthy lunches, coffees, cakes, fresh juices and a range of gluten-free products, hit the ground running and Jo found herself making 5.30am starts to keep on top of the summer rush.

“I knew it was going to be full on for those first couple of months, but it was great fun,” she says.

Part of the café’s appeal is that it is tucked well away from the main street and provides a safe place for kids who are kept entertained by the plastic farm animals that are provided by Jo and can be hidden into the nooks and crannies of the sandstone wall.

“I am not sure if we have found them all again yet,” she smiles.

[box] The Farmer’s Wife Harvest Cafe is at 47a Sackville St, Port Fairy, and is open 9am-3pm seven days. You can find it on Facebook here. [/box]

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