Paleo Café

IT looks like a regular café, with coffee, juice and plates of eggs and toast being ferried to tables of hungry diners, but it serves no grains, dairy, sugar or preservatives. Welcome to Paleo Café-believed to be the country’s first cafe dedicated to catering to the dietary needs of followers of the paleo diet.

In Cairn’s Grafton Street, the cafe opened three months ago. 

‘’The public reaction was amazing. We were run off our feet from the moment we opened the doors,’’ says owner Marlies Hobbs. “We have had customers with allergies literally in tears–so excited to be able to eat anything on the menu.’’

The paleo lifestyle, Hobbs says is about eating and living “as mother nature intended.’’ “That means eating a good variety of lean meat, seafood, eggs, fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds and berries.’’

Hobbs, who was a lawyer until she became a café owner says she discovered the diet just over a year ago while researching food intolerance due to her baby son’s dairy allergy.

“Around the same time, my husband heard about paleo at his crossfit gym and we’ve been doing it ever since. The fact that it worked in with our son’s intolerance and how much sense it made once we read into it, inspired us to start. We haven’t look back since.’’

While they embraced the philosophy, the idea for a café serving only paleo food struck Hobbs in April last year. “We registered the business name the next day and opened October 2012,’’ she says.

As per the paleo prescription, the café serves food made without dairy, grains, sugars and preservatives. But it’s difficult to ascertain from a menu that features classic breakfast items such as eggs Benedict, pancakes and granola with coconut yoghurt or lunch dishes like dukkah-crusted fish with sweet potato chips, steak or salmon with lemon mayonnaise.

‘’Everything is fairly easy to find now though cheese is something you have to say goodbye to if you want to be strict paleo. There really is no substitute for that as far as I know’’, Hobbs says.

The café also sells a range of take home products, supplements and ready-made paleo meals.

It’s a concept Hobbs plans to take nationwide this year, with a franchise operation ready to roll out around June.

“We are already corresponding with over 16 different people from around Australia who are interested in opening a Paleo Café,’’ she says.

But what if it’s all just a fad-likely to fall out of favour when then next big thing comes along?

Hobbs responds with the enthusiasm of a true convert.

“The paleo lifestyle is not a fad. It is going back to eating the way our bodies were designed to eat. This is the way of the future in order to undo the damage done as a result of the modern day diet.  People are becoming more health conscious. They know something has to change. Paleo is the simple common sense answer to all of the problems.’’

Paleo Café Shop 15, 62 Grafton Street Cairns, 4041 3885

No, I’m not coeliac but I reckon we can all do with a little less gluten in our diets. I’m also just interested in experimenting with gluten free cooking to see what you can achieve. So I made this dough. I divided it into 4- With one lot, I made a bread roll, with another, tried some gnocchi like dumplings, with a quarter I tried a steamed bun and with the rest I made a this pastie. I didn’t really like the bread- it was more like a scone; the dumplings were gross and the steamed bun heavy and cake like but the pastie worked well. I think you’d have to eat it straight from the oven or I suspect the pastry would become very hard.

• 2 brown onions
• 1 1/2 cups Macro Organics plain GF flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tbsp yoghurt
• 1 tbsp polenta
• 1 tbsp soda water
• 1 tsp salt
• grated cheese of choice
• pinch of cumin (optional)
• 1/2 tbsp of olive oil + extra
• 1 tbsp milk (can be cow, almond, soy or rice)

Roast onions, skin and all in oven for around 45mins until soft when squeezed. Squish them out of their skins and finely dice. Mix in cumin power and cheese (I used a mix of mozzarella and parmesan but something stronger like a blue would be nice withe the sweetness of the onions).

Mix flour, polenta, baking powder, yoghurt, salt, olive oil and soda water to a firm dough. adding extra flour if necessary. Roll out on a lightly floured board to a square shape. Put cheese/onion mix in centre and fold over. Cut around the edges to make a crescent shape and press edges together.  Put on a baking tray on baking paper. Mix a little olive oil with the milk (if you try to brush the pastry with the oil, it just soaks into one spot-the milk help spread it) and brush the pasta. Put into an oven of around 180 for around 20 minutes until golden brown.

Gerard’s Bistro

I think we need to have a talk about plate art.  Fads, whims, trends; call them what you like, but like it or not, they define an era and stamp the culinary passport with a particular date in time. -Think about eighties fine dining and images of soup duos in floral patterned plates come to mind as does asparagus and carrots tied up into bundles with blanched shallots and mosaic-like arrangements on hexagonal black glass plates.

The nineties ushered in sky scraper dining where blobs of mash acted as the cement and the entire contents of the dish was piled on top – this was possibly the worst era for waiters.

These days its all about dots and blotches, deconstructed dust, miniscule micro leaves, smears and skid marks.  Lines of off-centre ingredients are the go, plating is delicate and pretty and that is very much the case at Gerard’s, James Street’s latest hotspot.  And while this particular phase can be fussy and lead to miniscule portions and over-complicated flavour profiles, it takes a deft hand to balance the look of the plate with the each element of the dish.

Chef Ben Williamson spent five years in the Middle East before returning to Brisbane where he clocked up stints at 1889 Enoteca, Cha Cha Char and The Euro.  He uses classic food pairings and techniques with a dash of the avant-garde and firm nod to current plate art trends.

The room at Gerard’s is airy and colourful with a contemporary salute to the Middle East but really it’s a fresh, open space with a large concrete bar and an open kitchen framed with decorative slabs of reclaimed wood.  There’s a pile of woolly rugs for chilly laps if you choose a table in the walkway out the front of the restaurant.

Soft fried quail eggs are rolled in a spice blend and sit on an onion puree and it’s a dish of powerful flavours but it’s the special of veal bone, cross sectioned and roasted then topped with goat meat done two ways – slow braised and crisp fried pangratatto-style that dazzles.  Inspired by a dish of chef Ryan Squires (Esquire) presentation is dramatic, garnish free and served with a little spoon so you can scoop out the near-melting marrow.  This is really very good cooking.

Lambs brains with a spice crust miss the mark slightly – they are not crisp enough on the outside and this messes with the overall texture of the dish.

No such disparity exists in the flathead and freshwater red claw lobsters, pan roasted and served with  smokey potato puree and buttery chanterelles.  This is one of those cracker dishes, packed to the brim with powerful flavours that sit on the classic duo of fish and potatoes.  Shaves of Tasmanian truffle look good but there’s no need for them here as the smokey potato and sweetness of the flathead and shellfish are as much as anyone would want, and then some.

Pieces of spatchcock are grilled over coal and served with a punchy salad of coriander, mint, fenugreek and toasted walnuts.  Pomegranate seeds pop in your mouth and the baby chicken is sweet and juicy with salty-spice skin while a lemony dressing rounds things out nicely.

All four side dishes appeal especially the fried potato and green chilli and ‘Shirin Polow’ goji with organic cherries, pistachio and almond rice but our choice of heirloom baby tomatoes, sprinkled with sumac and shanklish is dotted with dehydrated shaves of onion.  It’s another modern take that adds spice and texture to a classic flavour combo and it works really well.

Xerotigano, a Greek fried pastry is usually served as round spirals but this version is made like a crispelli.  Cumquats are candied and these are arranged over a swipe of sheep’s milk yoghurt garnished with micro mint.  This is another hero dish and a great way to finish and interesting, colourful and delicious meal.  Rum baba with whiskey ice cream, pistachio financier and Valrhona aero with strawberry leather and rose marshmallow will tempt those with a sweet tooth as the Xerotigano has a much more savoury edge.

Gerard’s food is polished and accomplished and it’s obvious there is a talented young bunch behind the burners.  Service is a tad shaky on this visit but relaxed and prompt on a previous one and it’s not hard to see that as the weeks pass all elements will fall snugly into place.

TH

Lizzie Loel

E SCORE          16/20

Gerard’s Bistro

James St, Fortitude Valley

Ph 38523822

I’m not being rude; I’m genuinely interested.

I don’t rate myself above a reasonably competent home cook, yet if I counted what I’d actually learned from all the ‘celebrity chef’ demonstrations I’ve seen over the years, it’s not much for a hell of a lot of watching.

So, because I would never have a) time to emulate their creations b) the will c) the wallet d)the staff to clean up afterwards, and e) because of the above probably won’t buy their cook book and thus don’t want to line up to have it signed, I don’t see much point.

I’m obviously not the typical ticket buyer then, but who is? Do you go to celeb chef cooking demos? Do you learn anything and if so, what do you do with the knowledge? Who’s the best high profile chef you’ve seen do this kind of show? Responses much appreciated.

I wanted to just tweet this thought, but it got a bit out of hand, length wise.

So, how to find a good restaurant when travelling? A useful discovery I’ve made over my years of travelling: particularly when in a foreign country is, never ask a local for a restaurant recommendation. Instead, ask them much more specifically; ‘What is your favourite restaurant?’ and importantly ‘When did you last eat there?’

There are two reasons for this; one often people will want to point you to a restaurant that they think (or anecdotally know) ‘foreigners’ like, rather than one locals frequent. And two, you can’t assume that all locals always eat out a lot. Sometimes for economic or cultural  reasons they might not eat out often at all and a restaurant they went to and enjoyed 2 years ago could very well have gone off the boil.

It’s happened to me again and again. I remember going to a recommended restaurant in Marrakech (by our tour guide). It was full of foreigners just like us and correspondingly high prices. My friend got food poisoning (the positive side of which was being able to sell a travel story on taking her to a ‘herbalist’ in the souk for treatment!). Once she’d recovered we explored on our own, discovering some great (and dirt cheap) local places, much to the horror of our hotel receptionist, who confessed that yes, he *did* eat in one or two of them himself on occasion, but they weren’t ‘good enough’ for foreigners.

I’m sorry to say, but tourist boards aren’t much help. Most often they’re going to promote those places who pay them-whether through ads or membership fees, rather than those that are the best, or even the best fit for what the traveller is after.

Then there’s sites like tripadvisor, of which admittedly, I’m an avid reader, usually *after* having travelled to the place. People go to such sites, look up what is number 1 hotel or restaurant or whatever and put it on the top of their `must do’ list. They have an ok time, come home, post about it and it continues.

And finally, sadly often I find  travel writers (who often have a famil organised by a tourist board or other interested party), parrot the same old same old when it comes to restaurants or food recommendations too. The myth of a restaurant’s supposed greatness is perpetuated by laziness or lack of time as they become part of the foodie memory of people who organise such trips.

So, by all means, ask a local. Just make sure to ask a foodie local rather than assuming all locals are food lovers or frequent diners. (Local food bloggers are a great source!) Best of all is to use gut instinct and discover places for yourself. Sure there’ll be some hit and misses, but a quick recce (look at the menu, how many diners there are -a full restaurant is usually a decent one and get a feel for the atmosphere-happy looking diners, smiling staff, good smells etc?) and go it alone.

That’s the word on the street. According to my (multiple) sources, Moran is in negotiation to take over the old Boardwalk lease on Eagle St Pier, which went under in the floods 18 months ago. It would be good to have more venues in the city that are pitched higher than a sandwich bar but less corporate than what’s on offer now, if indeed that’s what he’s going to do. When I contacted Moran he said that nothing was confirmed ‘at this stage.’ and he ‘really can’t make a comment.” Fair enough. Hopefully, once the ink’s dry I can give you confirmation. I hope the rumour’s true because more restaurants in Brisbane can only be a good thing, upping the ante and forcing everyone else to pull up their socks. Plus one restaurant going into a space  = one fast food chain NOT going into it.

In this fickle, cost-driven and angsty time in the restaurant industry, it’s hard to know what trend will sustain let alone lead us into the next era.  In ‘bear’ markets we favour comfort food but we are still mining rich and deals must still be done at the big boys’ end of town. 

Modern gastronomy (for want of a better term) has ruled recently with mixed results. The problem is that these techniques and additives are like oil and canvas – put in unqualified hands they become clumsy try-hard versions of what only a handful of European restaurants have managed to pull off. 

Mugaritz is one of them achieving a number 4 in the worlds ranking and, while El-Bulli trained chef Andoni Aduriz still reigned, a baby faced young chef was fortunate (and clearly talented enough) to gain employment – paid employment that is, as opposed to a Stage.  It was at that time when they were striving for the ranking so the stakes were high to say the least.

Argentine-born Alejandro Cancino is the new chef of Urbane and man can this young man cook.  I’ve always struggled with the whole molecular movement particularly in Brisbane where diners go in less for that sort of thing but I still believe in boundary-pushing and experimentation, provided you follow some basic rules.  The dish must taste of its ingredients – so if you put lamb on a plate it shouldn’t taste, or look, like fish.  Temperatures need to harmonise as much as flavours and full-wheel reinvention for the sake of ‘difference’ is a definite no-no. 

What impressed me overall about my four and a bit course degustation lunch recently at Urbane is the innate authenticity and commitment to the core ingredient.  Take course three – pumpkin gnocchi with parmesan and rosemary, for example.  Sweet silken thumbnails of pure pumpkin sit in a cream sauce that is both refined and punchy with smooth hints of rosemary darting over the palate and a satisfying hit of salty, earthy parmesan as you near the centre of the bowl. 

A special of lamb and peas – the lamb juicy and outlined with a finely caramelised crust sat surrounded by tiny sugar snap peas liberated from their pod; also finely julienned and incorporated into the dish and adding crunch and the freshness and texture of an old fashioned lamb dinner, albeit with a thoroughly modern makeover.

Before that there is coral trout served raw with lemon puree and a sweet-savoury cream of leeks and herbs that you scoop with a squid-ink infused chard of lavash that looks like a layer of charred leek.  It works, especially in the chunky black earthenware bowls. 

Organic chicken wings with Jerusalem artichoke feature on the larger menu as does rainbow trout with paprika, yoghurt and quince.  Bread is served warm over a bowl of hot rocks – perfectly heated it remains so  for the duration of the course. 

There’s an impressive new crew about to descend to join Cancino – all of whom are alumni of some pretty serious locations both here and abroad.  Cancino did two years under Raymond Blanc at Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons after leaving Mugaritz and it was there that he met Chris Kenny (Young Chef of the Year 2011) who joins the team at the end of the month.  William Wallace, ex-Bentley and The Royal Mail in Dunkfeld also met Cancino during his six-month stage at Noma and he will be behind the burners next week.  It’s a serious line up of young guns – brimming with enough global experience but still bounding with youthful energy – that will propel Urbane, on the eve of its eleventh birthday, to the culinary levels it hasn’t enjoyed for the past few years. 

Knowing how to handle a whipping cream gun, play around with maltodextrine and sodium alginate or microwave sponges in paper cups does not make you a master of modern of molecular gastronomy and it’s fair to say I haven’t been a fan of the stuff in Brisbane (or some other parts of Australia for that matter) with two notable exceptions – Pablo Tordesillas (Ortiga) and Ryan Squires (Esquire).  Both understand what they are doing, have extensive overseas training and exposure, and both have great respect for the produce they work with.  And like the young and very calm Cancino, they both also value the team of professionals that they choose to surround themselves with. 

Service at Urbane has always been impeccable and the management are clearly pro’s.  Now all elements are singing from the same prayer book.  Imagine how it will be when all three chefs are ensconced and The Euro menu is revitalised.  It’s not always the case but here change is definitely a very good thing indeed.

Lizzie Loel

Score: 17.5/20

Urbane, 181 Mary Street, Brisbane, ph  3229 2271