PROFILED BY DEGROOTS MEDIAThis used to be one of the best, most eclectic country cafes in the state where bejewelled patrons rubbed shoulders at communal tables with local farmers and hippy types from the surrounding hills. Then ownership changed hands, the talented chefs moved to open their own place and the cafe went into somewhat of a decline. Now Steve Cumper, the chef who put Peppermint Bay on the national culinary map, has been appointed chef/manager and is well on the way to bringing the place back to its best with a simple, interesting and much upgraded menu catering equally to vegetarians and vegans as well as more mainstream palates.
The house-made gnocchi are feather-light and nicely presented topped with roasted pumpkin, sizzled sage leaves and toasted pine nuts. A beef and red wine pie is a hearty winter warmer while there are less conventional dishes like char sui marinated tofu, salmon cakes with roasted garlic aioli and beef kofta with labna and cous cous spiked with harissa for more adventurous diners. Best of all perhaps are Cumper’s plans to get the original old Scotch oven back in working shape to produce a range of specialty breads at which he’s a master. And he’s now opening on Friday and Saturday nights with special menus that are proving a boon for locals and tourists alike, bejewelled or otherwise.
Graeme Phillips, August 2008
