Tweed Heads, your cute coffee hang prayers have been answered.
Tweed Heads, your cute coffee hang prayers have been answered.
It is with happy tears and overly energetic typing fingers we bring you the news that Tweed Heads has jumped on the quality coffee/tasty eats/cool new venue bandwagon and you may as well pack your bags and move because things are heating up down there friends.
Hymn Coffee opened recently and it’s all glossy white tiles, raw concrete, plants aplenty and light fittings we would have stolen if no-one was looking (and stealing wasn’t illegal, obviously).
The thing that will catch your well-trained, interior appreciating eye though, isn’t a thing at all but a rather large, dried flower installation fixed to the ceiling. It’s a creative collaboration of the prettiest kind between co-owner Kelly and your fave curators of all the beautiful things, Gather Store (so you know it’s good).
The faces of Kelly and her partner KC are ones you may recognise from Palmy local Barefoot Barista. Mid last year the pair decided to go out on their own, then birthed a wee babe and opened Hymn Coffee (because two babies are better than one, right).
The menu is filled with dishes inspired by Kelly, and Head Chef Andy’s, New Zealand roots and feature familiar favourites with a refreshing twist.
For instance, the Hawker Roll is a fun (and DELICIOUS) take on the bacon and egg roll but with roti instead of a boring old bread roll. How good is roti. With the added goodness of Mum’s apple sauce, crispy onions and CONDENSED MILK MAYO, we’ve got ourselves a winner.
If heavenly bacon and egg dishes aren’t your thing (check yourself), go for the Fruit and Nut which features watermelon, little bananas, strawberries, cacao granola, whipped raw honey yoghurt, almond milk and basil. Fruity fresh.
Everything is made with seasonal, locally sourced produce and the menu will change as it sees fit.
Coffee beans are a blend called Orthodox from Melbourne coffee Gods St. ALi and is it just us or is there a theme here.
Because we love a good theme, here’s the punch line.
All your coffee drinking, epic food eating prayers have been answered, Tweed Heads.
Go now.
LOCATION: Shop 2, 99 Kennedy Drive, Tweed Heads
HOURS: 6am until 2pm every day
Words and photos by Kirra Smith.
Listen up y’all. Southerners have moved into Cooly and they’re bringing all those smokey, BBQ-inspired flavours you’ve come to know and love.
Sweet Lou’s Saloon can be found underneath The Strand with beach views and salty breezes aplenty.
It’s an intimate little space with mostly sidewalk (unsure of the Aussie word and must keep typing) seating and a few artfully placed southern-style trinkets, including a sweet saxophone, to remind you of what you’re about to experience.
Which is, team, New Orleans-esque grub of the (mostly) share plate variety along with southern-flavoured burgers, ribs of course, loaded fries – all the delicious bulking-for-summer things.
Standouts include the Buffalo Cauliflower with blue cheese sauce (only $5 – move aside), Chargrilled Corn Cobs with chipotle aioli and Mac n Cheese Croquets with Jack Daniels glaze.
Sticky Ribs are extra meaty and extra saucy (stop it) and washed down with an authentic Mint Tulip, you’ll be one happy clam.
Sweet Lou’s is the baby (literally) of Blake Read who was in fact born in Macon, Georgia and moved to Sydney as a youngster. The venue is named after Blake’s little girl Lou Lou and isn’t that the sweetest.
He’s also the guy behind the Beach Burrito phenomenon but a few indulgent trips to New Orleans put the idea for Sweet Lou’s into his mind (the venue not the child, although maybe both).
His family home was filled with Blues music and smoke from backyard southern BBQs and aren’t we happy his parents made the life choice to hole up in the US for a time.
Cooly’s coming on strong in the foodie department, get down there for a good old fashioned feast.
Sidenote: Did you know cattywampus is a word people in the South actually use? Example: The storm knocked the boat cattywampus and it started to take on water. Stay tuned for its appearance in a future story.
LOCATION: Shop 2, 72-80 Marine Pde, Coolangatta
HOURS: 5.30pm until late daily
Words and photos by Kirra Smith
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, Italian food is a gift from the Gods (aka people who revere carbs, love and afternoon naps above all else). It is both a comforting hug and a combination of flavours that instantly transport you back to that trip you once took to Italy and haven’t stopped thinking about since.
Particularly when it’s the work of two people who understand the importance of all of the above and have indeed spent considerable time living in one of the most beautiful countries in the world themselves.
Maki and Mike Dackiw are the brains behind Tweed Head’s newbie Gallura Italian and their rap sheet is an impressive one. They spent ten years running a trattoria in Milan before making the move to Sydney to open a sister venue and most recently, Park Street Pasta Bar in Brunswick Heads.
Luckily for the Gold Coast, the pair have now made the move to our southern shores and with them, comes a stunning new space brimming with those Italian good vibes you know and love and serving up a menu that will almost certainly blow your mind.
Gallura Italian is an intimate 60-seat venue with low hanging lights, a beautiful, brightly coloured octopus mural and a section called the Chef’s table where you can sit at the bar and watch Mike and the team at work. Oh and there are pendant lights made from oyster shells so that’s amazing.
Now to the menu and what a divine little masterpiece it is. Each dish is refined and made up of perfectly balanced flavours with influences from Sardinia and all made with the freshest of coastal produce.
To begin, the Arancini with black truffle, mushroom, buffalo mozzarella and porcini cream is absolutely divine as is the Chargrilled Local Octopus with cannellini bean crema, pickled green tomatoes, baby radish and nduja. Two of the best Italian dishes we’ve ever sampled (and yes, including from Italy).
One of Gallura Italian’s specialty dishes is the Pane Frattau – a Sardinian flat bread soaked in lamb broth with tomato salsa, basil, pecorino sarda and with a poached duck egg perched on top. It was melt-in-your-mouth magic.
From the Primi menu, the Spaghetti with NZ vongole (clams), confit garlic, vermentino (white wine from Sardinia) and Bottarga (salted fish rose) is mind-blowing, the perfect combination of flavours and the pasta arrived al dente which very rarely happens. Perfection.
For dessert, quite obviously you’ll want to taste the Limoncello Tiramisu and also maybe an Affogato because those are amazing always.
The wine list is made up of Italian tipples from across the country and there is a tight cocktail list should you wish to indulge in a couple of those too.
The emphasis of Tweed Head’s spectacular newbie is on fresh, local produce, handmade pasta and traditional Sardinian methods and may we say they have absolutely nailed it.
We’re probably going to move to Tweed now.
Go.
LOCATION: 1/20 Stuart St, Tweed Heads
HOURS: Wednesday to Friday 12pm to 2.30pm and 5pm to 9pm, Saturday 5pm to 9pm and Sunday 11.30am to 3pm
Words and photos by Kirra Smith
