Dine out all day for under $50

Dinning out in Yeppoon has always been a bit difficult. Restaurants come and go, open and close at a whim and offer somewhat differing service and etiquette. However after dining out the other day I felt the need to write this article.

My wife and I dine out every week, yes every week. Now some of you are thinking how can they, well I will show you.

As the title reads dining out has never been better, well I’m not saying that we have better restaurants or that the food is better, what I’m getting at is that you can get great value for money right now here on the coast. It’s not always about filling your plate or dressing up and spending over the top for average produce.

So with out further ado I will let you in on a great tip…

Breakfast. I am a great fan of a cooked breakfast and like many Australians enjoy a plentiful meal in the early hours to jump start the day. The best place that we have found for value is at The Shore Thing. Here you can have a full cooked breakfast of bacon, eggs your way, sausages, beans, ample toast and tomato all for just $13.50 oh and I forgot to mention it includes a free Tea or Coffee. The breakfast menu has plenty of choice and is very well presented. Don’t forget to ask for the HP sauce which is available. Total bill $27.00

Lunch. Well again we have sampled many a place for lunch, not all because some just don’t fit the bill for certain reasons, too expensive, limited options and so on, but this place which has had many a name and make over has got the value for your dollar spot on. Y4 again in the main street of town has an extensive menu at very reasonable prices. The food which we have sampled is of a clean crisp and satisfying quality and there for fills the lunch spot. For $13.90 and $11.90 you can have meals. Not to mention the other priced dishes available. We had a basic chicken schnitzel and parmigiana that come with salad and Bad Boy chips. For $2 a soft drink can be consumed in the air conditioned premises. Total bill $29.80

Dinner. Now dinner can be a challenge and we have found that few places offer what I would call a budget priced meal. Not cheap and nasty or a kids meal either. Some of the clubs have even a pricey feel to them but not Beaches Restaurant and Bar. Here you can have an authentic wood fired pizza for $15. They range from $12 to $18 and have a huge variety, not to mention that they are made fresh to order and baked in the wood fired oven. Beaches does offer a wide variety of food options from seafood, steaks and much more all at different prices, but for this example of dining out for under $50 you can’t look past the best pizza on the coast. Pizza and a beer $20 Total bill $40

Breakfast @ The Shore Thing $27.00
Lunch @ Y4 $29.80
Dinner @ Beaches $40.00

Total $96.80
Leaving a few dollars for a tip or a scratchy.

So what are you waiting for. For less than $50 per person you can eat out on the Capricorn Coast not just for dinner but all day, so come on get out there and sample some of the local cafes and restaurants and enjoy.

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Now that might take a long time to come, I have been a chef now for over 24 years and can count my promising apprentices chefs on one hand!!!. You might think that’s crap, well if you want to count the crap then the number will definitely climb.

I am from the old school and probably not many out there still cooking can relate to that, the most of us are well gone from the industry, sad to say but that’s the way it goes.

I am quite demanding in the sense that all I ask for is perfection within certain boundaries. The very best they can do is great, but generally we can always do better.

Anyway back to my apprentice. Cassi started out as a school based apprentice whom came to me with her mum for an introduction chat. This was very impressive and reminded me of the time when I had my first interview at the London Hilton on Park Lane, a bit different from Beaches but none the less a key moment within my career.

My dad was with me for the journey up to London and back to the Isle of Wight, he didn’t actually come to my interview with the chef, back then ‘Oswald Meir’ now retired.  But after the interview as we were being shown around, (I say we because there were 3 of us young boys trying to score a job at this prestigious hotel,) we came to the place at Human Resources where my dad was waiting for me. The Executive chef commented that I should have brought him along for the tour.

I guess that maybe he was impressed that I had strong backing from my parents which may have edged myself to the job over the others, who knows.

Cassi has come along way, now 2nd year, and is shaping into a good apprentice, showing key skills that will blossom into a young chef with constant progress. At  just 17, she has more control than many after completing their apprenticeship. Maybe that has something to do with were they learn, but I also think it is a lot to do with the attitude of the person itself, do they really want to be a chef or just try to cook?

It is hard these days to keep focused on the career, there are lots of distractions that can easily lead you astray, but with dedication you and others can make it. I hope that any young apprentice reading this blog might just look at them selves and knuckle down, because we chefs really do appreciate good apprentice’s.

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The spoon is now the pride and joy of Kenny, and is the envy of the other chef’s. It is always on his jacket and used with great pleasure and a cheeky smile.

It is not just an ordinary tea spoon. The spoon has a hock or clip on the back which clips onto your chef’s jacket or apron just like a pen.

This enables you to access it at any given time without searching for a spoon.

The great thing is that it stops you from using your fingers to taste the majority of things. Keeping your chef’s kitchen fingers clean.

The Barista is the person who makes your beautiful tasting coffee, hot & cold.
A true Barista should have acquired some level of experience in the preparation of, espresso based coffee drinks. Further than that the barista’s knowledge of coffee blends, varieties, equipment, latte art and more is down to the individual to gain. The art of coffee is far more than just a cup of black liquid.

Since the year 2000 the World Barista Championships are held annually. It has been dominated by Scandinavian barista’s except for 2003 when Australian Paul Bassett took the prize.
Since then it has been won by Klaus Thomsen from, guess where…… Denmark. In 2007 it was held in Japan and won by James Hoffmann from the UK.

Last year it was held in Copenhagen Denmark, which you think that the scandinavians would have some home advantage, well what ever advantage they had didn’t help, as the closest they came was 4th.
Irishman Stephen Morrissey took first place with Australian David Makin coming second.
Australia is certainly gaining a good reputation for excellent coffee.

This year the world barista championships are being staged in Atlanta Georgia USA, from April 16th-19th. There are over 50 competitors from all around the globe. I’m not sure if the world barista championships will be streamed live over the net, but you will be sure to find some great you tube video of the event.

It can be very frustrating when it comes to drinking a good coffee. For a start the average cost of a cup of coffee is $3.50 Australian dollars and for that you could end up with a cup of black water, or a very nice crema, full bodied coffee.

There lies the problem, the art of making coffee. That’s why I participated in a barista course last year, see my post chef to barista. At least now we can sample good coffee in my chef’s kitchen.

Should there be a price increase for good coffee made by the Barista? Obviously a good coffee for me, could well be a bad coffee for you.

It can be the said of the same with food, if you learn from the best and gain knowledge in your field then you would have an understanding and a palate for good food-or we do hope so-thats why chefs that train with great chefs go on to enjoy success. Just look at the amount of chefs that have made it big time from the Marco Pierre White kitchen’s or the Roux Brothers brigade’s and more so the Gordon Ramsay empire.

Anyway, enough rambling, back to the art of coffee. I have found some good information here at this coffeegeekblog which I recently came across. Also you can find plenty of video footage from barista’s at You Tube

[edit] See also

He was previously with Beaches restaurant working on the floor as a waiter, which he was very good at, and at times badly missed.

Matt showed interest in the art of making pizza and after picking up some tips from Maurizio, and has now the ability to produce good pizza’s. It just shows that with dedication and the want to do something you can. Matt has that passion for the job in hand which that enables Matt to achieve success in my chef’s kitchen at what he does.

Matt Dobson is also known for his artistic creations. He has art work on canvas and sculptures in stone, a few pieces have been on show in Beaches restaurant, and at the Mill Gallery in Yeppoon.

Since controlling the kitchen at beaches I have experienced many pizza’s some better than others. But for the past 18 months we have had the pleasure of Maurizio Sevesi in my chef’s kitchen.

Maurizio is Italian as you may have guessed from a name like that, but has lived in Australia for many years now. Being Italian who better could I have to bring the standard of pizza to such new heights.

After creating a new pizza menu with 22 different pizza, we tested many a dough until we found one that we could use. This actually came about from a visit by Maurizio to Cairns and a pizzaiolo there. With the dough recipe set the toppings were created. The napoli sauce was not a problem, the cheese mix neither.

Now contrary to the Australian thinking, pizza’s should be thin based with a minimal amount of topping, not a mountain full!!!! This proved to be one of the biggest hurdles for us to overcome.

With the new menu came new prices, a considerable drop in price, also a considerable drop in topping. The outcome was in our opinion great. An authentic thin crisp pizza with a full flavoured topping that allows you to appreciate the pizza for what it is.

The sad end to this post is, that Maurizio my good friend has just left us and will be enjoying his life in Cairns. A dream that himself and his partner Barbie have had for some time. I wish them both lots of joy and great times in there new home, knowing that they will be sadly missed.

Yes we have been getting fresh fish recently. This might sound strange but believe me it is not easy to get fresh fish from the local area as you may have read in my earlier post how hard is it to get fresh fish?

Just recently we have been getting a regular supply from the local fish market at Rosslyn Bay fishermans market in Yeppoon, delivered to my chef’s kitchen.

Chef Kenny has been busy with the scaling and filleting of the  fish.

We have had a supply of Red Jew, Red Emperor and Rossy Job. All of which have great eating qualities.

We spend considerable time preparing the fish and then freeze our product. The  required amount is then left out for our service in the evening which features on the menu.

Ever changing daily fish creations are  available for the customers to enjoy, don’t forget that the fish is fresh and local from our waters, not imported from wherever!!!!!!!!!!

Enjoy your catch of the day

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Well I think today the tale has turned.

Firstly you rarely find a fat chef in the industry with some age these days. Secondly, at least you know that the skinny ones can move at pace around a busy kitchen.

A busy chef has hardly time to eat! Due to pressure of work, lack of hunger after preparing so much food, (that sounds strange but sometimes you just don’t feel like eating)  lack of staff, no time to enjoy a sit down lunch or dinner break, are to mention a few.

I consider myself to be one of those chefs that finds it hard to sit down for a meal at work, because of the above reasons, and also I hate to cook for myself at work, and knowing that my other chefs are also very busy, how can you justify a break, we are a team after all.

Just the other day, a Saturday it was, we had a wedding that evening as well as lots of a la carte. The function room was set, the restaurant likewise. Kenny & I had the chance to down a salad which Cassi had made earlier.

With no place to sit, I turned up a plastic tub and we sat and ate our salads. It brought back memories of the time 19 years ago sitting on milk crates and boxes scoffing down a meal at any chance we had.

How times change for the better…………..NOT.

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Having just started our second summer menu for 09, things have been hectic for Kenny and myself. Cassi our apprentice has been at tafe and with Philip and Maurizio departing us it’s been all go in the kitchen.

But as all good professionals do we knuckled down and got on with it. The new menu according to Kenny the Chefs Beeatch (Bitch) as he puts it, is very exciting with new flavours that will not disappoint.

We have 18 entree dishes and 16 main meals which is by far one of the most extensive menu’s on the coast. This alone is a challenge itself. Oh let’s not forget the pizza as well…..

Writing a menu is one thing, creating and cooking it is another, hey Kenny. (I chuckle to myself) a private joke. Many a so called chef can copy, read books, repeat recipes, and glorify dishes with flash descriptions, but what happens after that, well………………
any way check out some of the pictures below. More will be added as we get them taken. The pdf of the new menu will be here soon.

A very good member of our team, this time from the floor.  A waiter is often referred to as part of the  floor staff because they patrol the restaurant floor.

Callum Heald came to us after experiencing a few other places in town, unhappily not satisfied he then found Beaches, where he has been supervising the restaurant for the past 6 months. A very good restaurant operator who has managed to motivate the team and get the most out of his fellow staff.

His experience has been much appreciated at Beaches and will be definitely missed. A smooth operator would be a description of Callum, one that does not crack under pressure but finds a solution to help the situation. That in itself is a great attribute to ones resume. I and the other staff wish Callum a continued great future where ever he ends up.