The
Good Life A gift to you from Cadeau By Vivienne Pearson
Veggie patch van by Yulli’s If you’re keen to try more local plant-based food this year then you’re in luck because Veggie Patch Van on Ewingsdale Rd in Byron Bay has just opened. Run by the team behind Yulli’s Byron Bay and Yulli’s Brews, the sustainable mobile eatery was originally in operation in Sydney several years ago but has now reopened in Byron, following the launch of their new local restaurant last May. The Veggie Patch Van sells a selection of delicious housemade items for breakfast and lunch that are 100% vegan, like mushroom and baked-bean wraps, banana bread with kombucha strawberry or mango and passionfruit jam, crumbed mushroom hot dogs, cauliflower burgers, fries and salads. Also on offer is fresh coffee from local roasters, Barefoot Roasters, with a choice of different plant milks, plus smoothies, cold pressed juice and Yulli’s housemade kombucha. The van is open from 7am to 4pm. For more info follow them on Instagram @veggiepatchvan or email Veggiepatchbyronbay@gmail.com.
Chocolate Lounge y All day vegan breakfast y vegan meals y toasties
9am to 5pm Monday to Saturday 9am to 3pm Sunday
VEGAN G ELATO & BERNA DIS GELATO
1/53 Stuart Street, Mullumbimby y 0406 422 465
Cadeau, meaning ‘gift’ in French, is the newest restaurant in Brunswick Heads. Its initial gift to you is the addition of European-influenced food to the area (keep reading for a second gift). Think Switzerland, Italy, France and the UK. Cadeau feels like a gift to its owners. Operated by husband and wife team, Giorgio Ravelli (chef), and Holly Ottignon (front-of-house), were on the lookout for a new place to call home. Their journey to Brunswick Heads started in the UK, where Giorgio had cheffed in places like The Ledbury (named as the top restaurant in the UK on numerous occasions). Holly had been a professional jazz singer, and a move to hospitality was a natural fit. ‘I was a food-obsessed kid, and meeting Giorgio opened up that world,’ she says. Music is still a big part of her life and her musical family are stoked about her move to Bruns as her brothers love performing at the Brunswick Picture House. Apart from singing lullabies to her toddler son, Holly has been more focussed on the amazing turnaround late last year from purchase to opening. ‘Donna from The Kingswood had already created such a beautiful space,’ says Holly. ‘We feel very welcomed by neighbours, locals and summer visitors.’ Six weeks in and the team have started to attract heart-warming positive reviews, including from the team at Fleet who ‘ordered just about everything on the menu’ and others who are comparing the food to that of Barrio and Harvest. The menu is small but incredibly rich in options. Arranged in order of size, dishes can be shared or eaten solo. My group of four opted for the banquet menu, allowing us to experiment without decisions. Giorgio and Holly talk about ‘low manipulation’ of ingredients, and the result is taste. Some dishes were new to us, like a collar of snapper, which is the neck portion of the fish, served with its fin sticking upwards to use as a handle. Others were familiar with a twist, like the roast lamb served with creamy butter beans instead of potatoes, and the best mint sauce I have ever tasted. Most dishes had a similar sauce-based
The team outside Cadeau. Photo by Jeff Dawson wow factor; everything from a curry-leaf based relish to a seaweed sauce for a potato ‘cake’. Mustard featured for a couple, with each one very different, befitting the more nuanced European approach to this condiment. Dessert offered something for each of our group, from blue cheese served with a fennel biscuit and beer honey, to a coffee ‘opera cake’ served with Chantilly cream. The wine list has been carefully selected,
with one of my South Australian companions over the moon to find three different rosés, and the other enjoying her first taste of ‘orange’ wine, something she had read about in the in-flight magazine on her way over. Cadeau Bar & Restaurant, 2/26 Mullumbimbi Street, Brunswick Heads. Wed–Sunday 5–10pm. 6685 1111 | cadeaurestaurant.com.au @cadeaurestaurant
Now it’s time for your gift! Cadeau ƱşƖōĎ ōĶŊĕ Ɛş şǔ ĕſ readers of this story a gift of a free ŔëōëŊşǔ ȑ !ëĎĕëƖȜƆ signature dish; a delectable ball of fried gruyere cheese ȑ ƱĶƐIJ ëŕƷ Ŕĕëō! (cut this story out of ƐIJĕ żëżĕſ şſ Ǖ ŕĎ ĶƐ online at echo.net. ëƖǽ şǔ ĕſ ĕŕĎƆ Ǟǣ DĕćȏȂ Gruyere cheese malakoff with pickles and mustard.
Happy Days $6 Loft Lager Schooner $6 Loft Wine $10 Aperol Spritz $12 Margarita Everyday from 12-6pm.
18 The Byron Shire Echo `ëŕƖëſƷ ǩǰǽ ǩǧǩǧ
North Coast news daily in Echonetdaily www.echo.net.au