Good Life Bangalow General Store Legend Pizza Simon Haslam The concept of the Australian general store is an old one, dating back to the time when our population was smaller, and transportation much more difficult. The whole town and surrounding area would purchase their food staples, dry goods and sometimes basic home and hardware from the general store. Or, in a city suburb, an ordinary house would convert its front rooms to sell the basics that everyone could walk down the shops for. There’s a lot of love in Australia for general stores: they were often a meeting place where you could connect with the neighbours, they’re much more enjoyable to visit than a brightly-lit supermarket chain with their copy-cat goods, and often their owners are a welcome part of the community. Plus, you can grab the essentials when you fill up with fuel. Anthony (from Lismore) and Abbie (Ewingsdale) are both locals who went to primary and high school in the area, who took a bit of a gamble when, with a newborn, they left careers as a builder and a vet to take over Bangalow’s General Store two years ago. ‘We still get people coming in saying, “When did this happen?”,’ laughs Anthony. ‘It’s Bangalow’s best-kept secret. People just love the idea of the general store, and I think they also appreciate what we’re trying to do to support the real, grass roots economy of the area.’ ‘Our focus is on supplying the community with local products, to help support the local economy and food chain and to help smaller businesses to get their products into the
community. This reduces food miles and our customers know directly where the products come from.’ Bangalow General Store is just off the main street on Granuaille Rd, so it’s easy to stop when you’re heading through Bangalow, but it’s also easy to access by foot or on your bike if you live in town. Whether you’re after local meat, seafood, coffee, healthy snacks, or local handcrafts such as ceramics, roast macadamia honeycomb butter, artisan bread, delicious cheeses, flowers, glutenfree fresh pasta or sauces, oysters, salmon… You get the picture – the general store’s the place! Bangalow General Store Open 6am–6pm Mon to Sat, 7am–5pm Sun Open for fuel 24 hours (card only)
School holidays: farmers’ market fun Victoria Cosford
lime and mandarin; Scratch Patisserie’s beautiful buttery pastries bejewelled with glossy berries, or sausage rolls. Playing With Fire has gorgeous biscuits scented with wattle-seed and lemon myrtle and Davidson’s plum. Under the blue Kiddies’ Plot awning, children paint and glue, mothers gossip, fathers fling toddlers into the air, and the music plays.
It’s an image still with me, the little boy dancing in front of the stage, face split into a smile of pure joy, orange balloon floating from his fingers, his father bopping alongside. At the farmers’ market toddlers stagger, beautiful young mothers breast-feed on rugs, small girls solemnly wheel miniature trolleys, all in an atmosphere of such calm and harmony, and it’s such a contrast to At both New Brighton Farmers Market (Tuesday harshly lit supermarket aisles where children 8–11am) and Mullumbimby Farmers Market throw tantrums before distraught parents. (Friday 7–11am) there will be special activities There is indeed no better place, to bring and events specifically for children throughout your offspring – always, but especially during the school holidays. school holidays – than the farmers’ market, not only for the wholesomeness of the environment – children biting into apples; a cutie-pie in a stroller gnawing a carrot; a young boy helping his mother select potatoes – but also because there’s a host of special events laid on. Spaghetti Circus will be at Mullumbimby with circus skills – tricks, juggling, stilt-walking – in the dedicated kids’ area. Crafts and various other activities will be offered by two women from Rainbow Kids, while at both markets the wonderful artist Anna will be face-painting whatever round little faces present themselves. u1Ú ®£¦UuI s1u It's a glorious family ǧƈĽǟƍƯƁ ǴĽǜĽǧ ǧǴȚƤŨ ƀƹřǼǧǧŨŠ experience anyway, even before ƹƯ ƀǟŨǧƈ ǧŨĽǧƹƯĽƤ ǜǟƹŠǼřŨ you get to the food, the punnets Ù1I u ¦ u' gU» P1u of Monty’s strawberries (not to mention his ever-popular ÚŨ ĽǟŨ Ľ ǜĽǟǴ ƹƀ Ľ ǜƤĽƯǴ ŘĽǧŨŠ fruit flats and icy poles), or ƭƹȓŨƭŨƯǴ ĽƯŠ ƍƯȓƍǴŨ ȚƹǼ Ǵƹ ƞƹƍƯ Ǽǧ ƹƯ ƹǼǟ ŨșǜŨŠƍǴƍƹƯ Ǵƹ ®ĽȓŨ ǴƈŨ 1ĽǟǴƈ cherry tomatoes and fat juicy ƹƯŨ ǟǼǧǧŨƤ ®ǜǟƹǼǴ ĽǴ Ľ ǴƍƭŨ blueberries. Crunchy roast ঠu à Р ͲͲ ƀƤŨǴřƈŨǟ ǧǴ 1 u ®P ¦1® Р ͵ ǟĽƞĽƈ ǟŠ macadamias (from Nudgel Nuts ҽƯƹŘƹƯŨǧǟŨǧǴĽǼǟĽƯǴǧ or Rainforest Foods); thirstquenching Rancho cordials in
www.echo.net.au
If you go back in time 32 years, Byron was very different, but Legend Pizza was already a massive favourite of locals. You’d have to be a bit of a legend to have a successful business that’s been right in the middle of Jonson St for 30 of those years; that’s been locally owned and operated the whole time. A couple of years ago, owner Scott Levy and his wife Gemma were given notice to make way for a luxury redevelopment, but they found a home around the corner in Marvell St, and their traditional gourmet pizzas are still super-popular with locals, and with cost of living pressures affecting many of us, they are great value (at the moment they have a special of $15 large basic pizzas on Mon/ Tues/Wed, and a happy hour 3pm-5pm, but stay tuned as the specials change from time to time). In fact, Scott’s philosophical about the move. ‘The old place was a bit dated,’ he says, ‘and we’ve become fully-licensed because the new place lends itself more to having a drink with friends, and has a nice outdoor area for about 20 people which we’re doing up. It’s going to be great in summer, and in the future `I grew up in a small town in Victoria that we hope to do some events with local suppliers, was flooded when I was 11 years old and we had which will be fun, and Marvell St is becoming three families living with us for months,’ says busier, with the hot bread kitchen and the new Scott, ‘and we’ve had tough times with a cancer hotel across the road’. They’ve even got a few diagnosis for one of our children so we know unusual elements, like a whisky display and a how important it is when the community helps special cabinet for dangerously hot chilli sauces each other out’. – be warned! ‘We’re back now, and we’d love to see you But some elements have stayed the same, in at Legend Pizza,’ says Scott. And if you can’t like the laid-back atmosphere, the support of make it into town, they do deliver all around the the local sporting organisation and charities, Byron area. and using the same local suppliers. Legend Pizza, 2/3 Marvell St, Byron Bay ‘We’ve had the same F&V supplier for 28 Phone: 6685 5700 years, and the same butcher for 30 odd years,’ says Scott. ‘It’s so important, there’s been some Open for lunch: Thurs, Fri and Sat from 12pm tough years with Covid, and the big drop in Open for dinner: 3pm-late, 7 days a week visitor numbers last year, but when you look after the locals we see how that connection sustains everyone.’ Scott views it like a mosaic, where all the OP COFFEE SH little sporting clubs and community organisations work together to create the comOpen 6am – 12pm munity. They were one of the Monday – Saturday first to pitch in by contributing supplies to flood-affected Shop 6/108 Stuart Street people during the 2022 floods Mullumbimby. via their local supplier who #ELPELBFRσHHBVKRS was one of those few who ALLPRESS ESPRESSSO were able to deliver to people in need.
this Summ
CELEBRATE WITH US PRIVATE EVENTS
|
CHRISTMAS GATHERINGS
|
CORPORATE EVENTS
figtreerestaurant.com.au 02 6684 7273
ĕżƐĕŔćĕſ ǩǮǽ ǩǧǩǪ The Byron Shire Echo 27