February 2016

Adventurous Spoon

Just like naming a new baby, café owners Sam Everett, his fiance, Stephanie Dening, and Stephanie’s sister Lashay Semple, had the tough job of selecting a café name that was not only catchy and fun, but hadn’t been taken.

“We went through many different names – some we all liked and others we couldn’t agree on – but each had already been used. Then we came up with Adventurous Spoon – no one else in Australia has this name,” Sam says. “About 500 different souvenir spoons sit proudly beside our coffees. Customers also get involved and drop off spoons they’ve collected from their travels.”

Adventurous Spoon was a new addition to Robe in September 2015.

A metallic bronze La Marzocco Linea serves Campos Coffee’s Dark City Blend, a rich, bold and smooth blend with hints of chocolate.

Sam, a former coffee trainer, says he is thrilled to introduce the dark roast and the Campos Coffee name to his Robe customers.

“I choose all my suppliers for their quality produce and service. We’re the only ones to serve Campos on this side of Adelaide. Not only does Campos have great coffee but their service is impressive. I called Campos’s Matt [Dessaix] on a Tuesday and he drove three hours from Adelaide to Robe to visit us the next day. He went above and beyond his call of duty. That’s when I knew we were in good hands,” Sam says.

Adventurous Spoon attracts tourists, lots of generation Y and baby boomers, but it also has a strong local following. The café’s 900-square-metre venue is spacious and open, with an outdoor seating for cutstomers to bathe in the sunshine.

“We want our customers to feel comfortable and have fun when they visit Adventurous Spoon, and most of all enjoy our hospitality. I’ve done all the hospitality roles from front to back of house, and I can happily say I enjoy every aspect of this industry. But I do believe service is the most important thing,” Sam says. “It’s hard to find good service, especially in country areas, so it’s one thing we pride ourselves on.”

As well as their strong customer focus, Sam says the Adventurous Spoon team likes to do things “a little bit differently”.

That includes serving coffee-inspired treats such as nutella lattes and coffee cocktails, and an eclectic menu of Asian and Italian fusion dishes. When it comes to popular dishes, Head Chef Sean Emery’s creation is a standout: a slow-cooked pork belly served with a Vietnamese salad.

2016 World Cezve/Ibrik Champion crowned

Greece’s Konstantinos Komninakis is the new World Cezve/Ibrik Champion following a winning performance at the Gulford event in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on 24 February.

The ninth World Cezve/Ibrik Championships consisted of four full days of competition, in which 19 international competitors demonstrated their Ibrik skills in front of the judges.

Turkey’s Hazal Atesoglu came in second, while Karthikeyan Rajendran is taking home the third Soy Turkiye handmade trophy.

Konstantinos said he is new to the world of competitive brewing.

“The National Greek Championships were my first time competing and to go on from there and to win the world title is an amazing feeling,” said Konstantinos. “I am honoured and after a lot of hard work, I must thank my team, Antonis Kargiotis, George Bournelis, the farmer Graciano Cruz, and of course my inspiration to compete, Stavros Lamprinidis.”

Karthikeyan kicked off the last day of competition on Wednesday, up against the six finalists from the previous three days of heats.

The Philippines, Romania and Saudi Arabia were all represented in the finals of the annual event, which tests baristas brewing abilities in the method commonly referred to as turkish coffee.

Popular in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, the World Cezve/Ibrik Championships is a Speciality Coffee Association of Europe (SCAE) event, supported by sponsors Gulfood and Loumidis.

“Hosting the World Cezve/Ibrik Championship here at the Dubai World Trade Centre during the Gulfood event was an easy decision for us to make and gives us a fantastic opportunity to promote speciality coffee in this region,” said SCAE Executive Director, David Veal. “The response we’ve seen from the audience here is overwhelming and it’s quite evident Ibrik’s growth in popularity is continuing.”

Tbsp

Friends Robert Williams, Han-li, and Han-ji are no strangers to the café scene.

For a few years they operated a small city venue called Smuggle Seeds Espresso and would regularly dine at local cafés around Perth, noting what they liked, what they didn’t, and what they would do differently if given the chance.

Eventually the time came to bid their 60-square-metre space goodbye and say hello to a more spacious venue in the epicentre of Perth.

The Bayswater site is now large enough to hold a commercial kitchen to serve an all-day breakfast and lunch menu.

“When customers enjoy our food and drink our coffee they’re enjoying a reflection of things that we personally like and enjoy, as opposed to trends,” Robert says.

With the help of designers Bremick Group, the space was soon transformed into a café oasis with wooden brown tones, elements of green, and dim lighting.

“We presented the interior designers with a folder of the styles of cafés we liked from around the world,  including ideas from Pinterest, mixed with our own flair. They took it all on board and did a terrific job,” Robert says.

As for the name Tbsp (Tablespoon), Robert says it was a light-bulb moment one day baking in the kitchen.

“I was holding a tablespoon measuring device in my hand, and I looked down and thought, ‘why not?’ I wanted people to associate the name with food and the culinary side of our business, and not just another small specialty café,” he says.

“People can get caught up in the intimidation of what it means to be a specialty coffee shop. Our challenge was how can we serve them our coffee and still find a way to show our customers how to appreciate where the coffee comes from without overwhelming them. Our solution is to continue to do the best job with every cup we make, and be transparent to our customers if they have any questions.”

Robert and his team of baristas use a Synesso Hydra Generation 2 paddle machine to keep the artisan approach alive.

Tbsp uses Perth’s Blacklist Coffee Roasters’ Etude for its milk-based coffee. Robert says this blend bring out chocolate notes. It also serves Melbourne’s Small Batch Roasters’ Candyman blend for black coffees, which highlights citrus tones.

Rotating single origins, cold brew, and filter coffees from Small Batch are also available and served with a Marco sp9 manul pour over brewer.

“We’re serving hundreds of filter coffees a week and we can because of the Marco pour over brewer, it’s amazing,” Robert says.

Tbsp attracts an “eclectic mix” of customers each day, including parents and business people, to senior citizens.

“I’m finding the elderly are more keen to drink single origins than the younger demographic. The other day we had a table full of elderly ladies drinking coffee tonics and cold drip, and absolutely loving it,” Robert says.

On the opposite end of the scale, babycinos with melted white chocolate imported from France have every child captivated and asking for more.

As for the big kids, there’s plenty to keep them satisfied too. Robert describes the menu as a “casual eating experience not defined by genre”.

“You might be eating a breakfast congee, and the friend next to you scrambled eggs,” he says.

Favourite items that allow you to “eat with your eyes” includes the brioche French toast, avocado tartine, kim-cheese burger, fried chicken sandwich, brisket benedict, and grilled sandwiches that are as big as the plate they’re served on.

“We want to be an intimidation-free café. Tsbp is a project. It’s an experiment in how we can serve delicious food and coffee together in an approachable and accessible way, and it’s working,” Robert says.

“I’m enjoying the connections with everyone who comes in. One gentleman was nearly in tears as he thanked us for the best breakfast he’s ever had. This experience has taught our customers that it’s OK to not understand every item on our menu. Instead, ask us. We always want to provide the answer.”