The Victorian-made produce that is getting local chefs and foodies through lockdown
Food and drink producers are struggling under the weight of coronavirus restrictions — but fellow foodies are doing the best to prop them up by shopping locally. And some of the state’s best food and drink is just a click away.
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Travel restrictions in Victoria have affected food and drink businesses, but there is a silver lining — we are shopping local.
And so are Victoria’s chefs and food producers, who are supporting each other’s businesses.
“It’s always been important to support our amazing local food and drink producers in Victoria, but now it’s more important than ever,” says Shane Delia, Maha chef and founder of the Providoor delivery service.
“It’s really easy to get deliveries from your favourite producers and restaurants and winemakers, but to be honest I’ve been really enjoying working from home. I have everything I need nearby in Moonee Ponds, but I go a bit further for my bread to Loafer bakery,” he says.
“Loafer Bread is just inside my 5km boundary, so I make regular trips over to North Fitzroy for their overnight white sourdough. It’s moist and dense, but not heavy. It also lasts two to three days in the pantry and tastes amazing.”
SUPPORT VICTORIAN BUSINESS: Get your 24-page Click for Vic magazine in today’s Herald Sun or our digital edition.
Loafer owner/baker Andrea Brabazon has cult status in Melbourne’s inner north, setting up deliveries to surrounding suburbs during lockdown.
Her bread is distributed further afield by online wine purveyor The Local Drop, which has extended its business to include hampers, fresh produce boxes and breakfast kits.
“Everyone wants bread in times like these,” Andrea says. “People are really looking out for each other, and we make sure we support other producers that make our bakery possible.”
She is a big fan of Mount Zero olive oil, a key ingredient in her focaccia. Mount Zero is run by the Seymour family on the northern edge of the Grampians National Park.
They also harvest salt flakes from Dimboola’s Pink Lake, and sell grains and pulses from the nearby Wimmera.
Asked for her favourite lockdown treat, Andrea does not hesitate. She reaches for Laetitia Hoffmann’s handmade Pain et Chocolate sweet creations, sold at the tiny Atelier Chocolat shop in Andrea’s home town of Trentham.
The feeling is mutual for Laetitia, who developed her first rye bread chocolate after tasting Andrea’s naturally leavened sourdough.
The dark chocolate is mixed with dehydrated Loafer rye and a delicately smoked salt bought from Melbourne’s network of Gewurzhaus spice stores.
“I’m so lucky to have customers who want to buy my products online,” Laetitia says. “We rely on visitors from Melbourne to keep us going in Trentham, and it’s been very quiet in the last few months.”
Trentham bakers John and Alan Reid have used the time to rebuild the retail area of their award-winning RedBeard Bakery.
They have also built a sourdough pastry room to expand the range of goods baked in their wood-fired Scotch oven, and their sourdough courses have gone online.
The Reids source their wholemeal flour from fifth-generation farmer Stephen Walton, who runs a biodynamic property in Marnoo, 50km north of Stawell.
Stephen and wife Tania grow and sell freshly milled flour, pearl barley, oats, lentils, spelt and wheat — all hot commodities when baking staples came under pressure during lockdown.
“We purchased a flour mill in June and haven’t looked back,” Tania says.
The couple’s business, Burrum Biodynamics, delivers across Victoria through Farmhouse Direct.
Their grains and pulses have also appeared on some of Victoria’s top restaurant menus, and Bellota’s Nicky Riemer loves cooking with their Puy lentils at her South Melbourne restaurant and wine bar.
Nicky’s food and drink boxes are available online through Prince Wine Store Providore, and she has been serving take-home meals through HungryHungry, a Melbourne tech company enabling restaurants and cafes to take orders online and handle their own deliveries.
Some of Melbourne’s biggest names in food are using the tech, including Kate Reid at Lune Croissanterie, Scott Pickett at Estelle and Matilda and Jessi Singh from Daughter in Law.
SUPPORT LOCAL: Find more amazing Victorian producers and makers at Click for Vic.
HOW PROVIDOOR IS BRINGING FINE DINING TO HOMES
Shane Delia turned Melbourne’s lockdown into a time of opportunity.
His Maha dining room and TV gig with Channel 9’s Postcards might have gone into hiatus, but Shane turned downtime into a booming new business, partnering with Melbourne’s top tier dining venues to create the game-changing Providoor finish-at-home delivery service.
More than 30 restaurants and bars are being given “a lifeline every week, and the people of Melbourne are loving it”, Shane says.
“Andrew McConnell’s lobster roll from Supernormal is by far the most popular dish. We’ve sold more than 7000 of them since June.”
Promising next-day delivery up to 35km from the CBD, Providoor offers classic dishes from venues including Cumulus Inc and Flower Drum, Tipo 00’s handmade pasta and cocktails, and tapas from Frank Camorra’s legendary MoVida.
Providoor also offers online cooking classes with the superstar chefs.
Shane plans to extend the service to regional Victorian restaurants in summer.
NATIVE INGREDIENTS BRING A LOCAL FLAVOUR
Nornie Bero is determined to make Indigenous herbs and spices a staple in Aussie kitchens.
Nornie is head chef and owner of Mabu Mabu, which showcases the use of native ingredients in its dishes.
The Yarraville eatery opened earlier this year, moving quickly to takeaway and delivery orders with a menu full of native flavours, and Nornie says they had an unlikely saviour — damper.
“The DIY damper kits have saved our business,” Nornie says.
“I’ve never had to wrap so many banana leaves in my life.”
The kits, available online, include all dry ingredients, native spices (wattleseed and saltbush) and cryovaced banana leaves.
“Native damper is a ordable, it’s easier to make than sourdough and it’s fun for kids,” she says.
The talented chef has even been hosting online workshops teaching people how to make damper.
Originally from Mer Island in the Torres Strait, Nornie has been a chef for more than 20 years.
“I grew up on the islands, with a spear in my hand, catching octopus and cooking it. If you’re
hungry you just pick things,” she says. “I’m a true island girl and I’ve been lucky enough to eat this native stuff for free.”
Now she is determined to make Australian ingredients mainstream.
“I want to get native foods out of fancy restaurants and into everyday cooking,” she says.
“It’s educating people to give it a go, I always say ‘saltbush is black man’s oregano’.”
The Mabu Mabu online store sells housemade tropical sauces such as Pineapple Hot Sauce, Organic Bush Tomato Sauce and Green Tomato Hot Sauce.
It also boasts an array of native spices including saltbush, cinnamon myrtle, ground
wattleseed, pepperberries and lemon aspen salt.
mabumabu.com.au
FROM COFFEE TO SANITISER
Being in the right place at the right time has helped ST. ALi owner Salvatore Malatesta stay ahead of the curve this year.
The Melbourne specialty coffee business turned five of its 13 venues into grocers or general stores and further strengthened an already existing e-commerce platform, Salvatore says.
Along with delicious coffee blends — including Orthodox House espresso blend with its apple jam, fudge and milk chocolate flavours — the online store now also sells homewares and clothing, brewing equipment and masks.
And then there is the ST. ALi-branded hand sanitiser, which Salvatore describes as “the Mother Teresa of all lifesavers” as it helped him retain most of his employees.
The online general store is a cornucopia of delights, with products such as gin mayo, green curry mayonnaise, Raymond Capaldi’s Wonder Pies along with a selection of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.
SUPPORT VICTORIAN BUSINESS: Get your 24-page Click for Vic magazine in today’s Herald Sun or our digital edition.
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