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contents
Breeze Buzz 08
John Woulfe 16
Breeze Loves 11
En Plein Air
Breeze Books 12
Coast 175 42
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Mountain Sounds
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Mooney Mooney Creek 60
House Mollymook En-thai-ced
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84 100
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A stylish reincarnation for one of Ettalong’s iconic buildings sees it become a firm favourite with both visitors and locals. The first time Monique Keogh saw the old corner store building opposite Cinema Paradiso she was hurrying for the Palm Beach ferry. She had just moved to the area and was embarking on her first commute to Avalon. She was completely struck by its beauty and its potential. A couple of years on, having seen it change hands, Monique tried to purchase the building but was ultimately disappointed. Fast-forward two years and through a chance encounter Monique found herself the leasee of the building. By then Monique had had several years to refine her plans for the building and within just two months of signing paperwork Coast 175 had opened for business.
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The building seems to know its fallen on its feet. It positively sparkles under Monique’s care. With beautiful worn floors, whitewashed walls, mid-century furniture and those cheery yellow blinds its a lesson in effortless coastal chic. Monique has a background in health and fitness so it was important to her that her new venture provided not only good quality food but nutritionally balanced meals. You will find cafe staples, often with a fresh twist, as well as some more unusual options. But Monique ensures that everything on the menu is as good as it can be, made with the freshest ingredients and conscious of health without sacrificing the yum factor we all want from our Sunday brunch or cake and coffee. Monique is also committed to providing delicious options for special diets such as vegetarian or gluten-free meals. All the food (except bread products) at Coast 175 is made on the premises. Bread is sourced from Somersby’s La Tartine and croissants and the like are purchased, but all cakes, sauces, condiments and so forth are carefully prepared on-site.
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You even get a glimpse of the wonderful fresh produce that has gone into your meal with some of the same available for sale in the general store section of Coast 175. Its not a big selection but it looks delicious and is beautifully presented. It also adds wonderful colour and character to the cafe and harks back to the building’s mercantile past. The market side of the business is something that Monique always envisaged being more prominent than it currently is. At the moment it is an unexpected casualty of the cafe’s immediate commercial success – the first year of Coast 175’s life has been so busy that there’s been little time to put into the general store side of things. It’s something Monique is working on now that the cafe has has settled into a confident stride.
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When it comes to
the Central Coast music scene I think we can all agree that there’s no shortage of talent lurking about. In fact there’s enough to make us think there might be something in the water.
Emma Louise
Sticky Fingers
Jinja Safari
However the past few years have seen a decline in live events. With the unexpected disappearance of Coaster and the Peats Ridge Festival the Coast’s potentially flourishing music festival scene had sadly fallen by the wayside. But that could all be about to change ... Thanks to Mountain Sounds, a boutique music and sustainable arts festival set to turn the creative spotlight back on to the Central Coast. Tongues are wagging and it seems Mountain Sounds is on everybody’s lips. And given the stellar line-up I’m not at all surprised! by Chloe Webb
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When it comes to short getaways from the Central Coast, for some of us the compass tends to automatically point north. The mere thought of battling the traffic at the Sydney end of the M1 and floundering your way through the myriad freeway options, M2, M4, M7 and so on, is enough to put you off. Because we are north of the “big smoke” it can seem much more timeefficient to head up the coast. I’m one of these people, but silly me! Recently, Breeze entered a photo in an art festival competition held on the South Coast. It was done at the encouragement of a dear South Coast friend, sent off without a thought. Much to our delight it won! The prize – accommodation for two in a beachside cottage and dinner for two at a newly established restaurant called Tallwood. Obviously it would be crazy to pass it up. I was forced to point my compass away from north. So I packed up my little family and headed off ... south! We strategically left at 10am on a Friday morning hoping to miss much of the traffic. Google maps had told us that the trip would take up to 4 hours, so we plotted a feed stop for my little boy and set off.
photo courtesy of Leonie Johnston
There was the usual traffic through Pennant Hills (and some slightly panicky motorway changes) but otherwise the trip is a steady and relaxed one, especially for any M1 commuting veteran. There are so many options to break up the trip with sensational stops at Berry, Kangaroo Valley, Kiama, Gerringong and Geroa just to name a few. These places are such a contrast to our own landscape and if you haven’t travelled in this direction for some time I highly recommend you remind yourself of how stunning the South Coast is. With one stop for lunch, bottle-feed and a stretch of the legs we arrived at our accommodation at 3pm. We were met at Mollymook Beach View by Ken, a knowledgable local. Mollymook Beach View is a beautifully renovated original weatherboard holiday home a couple of doors up from Mollymook Beach. With a fair few options of the hotel and apartment type we were definitely happy with our lot. Dinner was booked for 7.30pm so we got ourselved sorted and relaxed. Taking a look on Facebook, Tallwood looked stunning. Very fresh and impeccably fitted out. A quick glance at the website and based on where head chef Matt Upson has worked previously stirred a culinary excitement that increased by the minute. I had purposely not eaten much that day and it might be an understatement to say that I couldn’t wait to get there. Lets go!
photo courtesy of Leonie Johnston
Mollymook has one of the South
Mollymook Beach View is an original
Coast’s most popular beaches. It is a beautiful stretch of golden sand with a grassy reserve behind. There is a beautiful 9-hole golf course at the southern end of the beach and the golf club there has breathtaking views. Mollymook and the surrounding area has a great range of eating options for a small seaside town. Heaven for the foodlover!
1950s weatherboard beach house. The outside retains all its original charm while the inside has been sympathetically renovated to create very comfortable self-catering accommodation for couples. It’s in a prime position, just up from the beach, with plenty of coffee options around. The front verandah (shown above) is ideal for sitting with a book and watching the waves roll in. www.mollymookbeachview.com.au
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Photography by Tim Brand
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On arrival, I was pleased to
see plenty of parking spaces available for guests next to the restaurant. We parked and began our usual ritual of unpacking pram, moving baby into pram, loading baby supplies on top and underneath pram and finally stowing assorted camera gear and lenses. Just short of requiring four Sherpa and a pack-horse, we rattled our way towards the entrance. The first thing I noticed was the mix of people out the front and inside, both young and older, families and couples, all happily enjoying their Friday night out. I had seen pictures of the interior on Facebook, but they really didn’t do the place justice. You’re instantly wowed by a large feature wall and bar dressed in a beautiful local blue gum. This is complemented by a mix of oranges, blacks and creams in the furnishings, giving the space an overall warmth which is created immediately upon arrival. The staff somehow recognized us as we arrived (maybe the camera gear strategically placed on top of and around my son?). It was no problem for the them to find a comfortable area for us with the pram.
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By this stage I was tingling with excitement as I must have researched the menu for over an hour ... Recently becoming a dad again, and after months of late night bottle feeding, nappy changing, the thought of an evening of fine dining had me somewhat chomping at the bit ... Our hostess Chelsea made us aware that Head Chef Matt Upson had given us carte blanche, whatever we wanted, to enjoy and indulge in a night on Tallwood. My excitement threshold was quickly approaching ... I let Michelle choose her entrÊe and main. Meticulously rehearsed. I ordered. And might I see the wine list please Chelsea?! As we visited Tallwood in December, the restaurant was decorated for Christmas decorations and one in particularly had caught my attention. Underneath the bar, lit up with lights, an advent calendar made up of beautiful pictures and numbered cards. Along the back wall a stunning collection of local surf art for sale. We were treated all night with an assortment of fine food that was nothing short of amazing. Tastes that I’ll never forget. Portuguese fish cakes with saffron mayonnaise; duck rillette with piccalilli and house bread; roasted duck breast with leg confit, braised lentils and baby carrots; local Eden black-lipped oysters ... and the list went on.
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duck rillette with piccalilli and house bread
A side of roast pumpkin with goats cheese
roasted duck breast with leg confit, braised lentils and baby carrots
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Matt has an impressive resume behind him, including stints at Southern Ocean Lodge on Kangaroo Island and Capella at Lord Howe Island before returning to the South Coast. Business partner Clayton Till has a background in building, hence the stunning timber fit-out. They originally partnered up on Merry Street Restaurant & Bar in Kioloa, further south, which quickly established its reputation. They were then invited to open a restaurant in Mollymook. Tallwood opened in early 2013 and hit its stride straight away. They get an eclectic crowd with a lot of locals supporting the restaurant as well as the holiday-home crowd. The food at Tallwood looks quite complex but at its root is a philosophy of good, simple food. Much of the produce is locally sourced and the menu changes regularly with food that is designed to be shared and enjoyed with friends. For both Matt and Clayton the key to Tallwood’s success is the service and relaxed atmosphere. Matt likes nothing better than to see the same people in regularly. With such an influx of holidaymakers its not unusual to see people in for breakfast, lunch and dinner. In the burgeoning food scene in and around Mollymook, Tallwood is a standout. Do yourself a favour and get down there yourself. Tell Matt that Tim sent you!
Portuguese fishcakes with saffron mayonnaise
Affogato
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Mollymook: the inside food guide by “insider”Darryl Snow “Where are you from?” We all get that question when we are travelling, whether it be near or far from home. My answer for nearly all of my adult life has been the Milton-Ulladulla area. With excruciating predictability the questioner will follow up with “Oh there? You know the Marlin Hotel? I went there years ago.” Quite ... Built in 1948, the Marlin Hotel still occupies an important position in the area however as tourism thrives in the surrounding towns so too have the food and entertainment options. Bannister’s at Mollymook, with Rick Stein’s restaurant within the resort, is a flagship for full-blown foodies or casual diners and a major drawcard bringing tourists to the area. And the locals love it, be it on a Friday night with live music by the Pool Bar or as a special place to dine with friends and family at Rick’s award-winning restaurant, the place deserves its many accolades. Nowadays for an area to really thrive, both as a destination for tourists and for the locals to support it, it needs many more options, and without doubt Mollymook has many top class restaurants and casual eateries. Breeze Magazine have already told you aboutf Tallwood so I will just quietly tap my nose and give you a very brief and very “local” opinion about Tallwood. Don’t miss it. But you want more. You want a weekend? ProTip: A long one is best.
Cupitt’s Winery is just out of Ulladulla and Milton and does an excellent lunch and dinner. If you fancy watching the sun set over the mountains with a glass of local or imported wine (and who doesn’t?) you are in luck. A special mention here for the quality of staff and service. Numerous nose taps. I thoroughly enjoyed a long lunch at St. Isidore in Milton a few weeks back with Sydney and former Central Coast chef, Alex Herbert. The restauarant, headed by chefs Alex Pelly and his wife Jo, is set amongst beautiful produce gardens where kitchen staff saunter out and select fresh ingredients as you dine. St. Isidore, is also a must. Check the Trip Advisor reviews. They have earned their reputation. Fast, yet subtle nose tapping going on here. Breakfast after a surf? Lunch after a surf? Or dinner during peak holiday season? Surfers of the unspeakably ‘underground’ kind colonised this area years ago. Now in the hands of former pro surfer Garth Dickensen and his partner Martha, Pilgrims at Milton is a magnet for casual diners and hungry surfers alike. Meat? None to be seen, but trust me, you won’t miss it. Carnivores emerge with unbloodied smiles and spread the word that has seen Pilgrim’s iconic reputation for it’s food and hospitality extend to Huskisson and more recently to Cronulla in Sydney. You’ll love it. And the surf? We’ll talk about that over a coffee and cake overlooking the harbour. The Boardwalk is excellent. Maybe even over a beer at the Marlin? Maybe. Just maybe. Or maybe not ...
BANNISTERS
CUPITT’S WINERY
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thank you for reading!
Look out for Issue 9