Delightful Dulcie & Edna now open.
Delightful Dulcie & Edna now open.
Imagine how proud your grandma would be if you opened a café, so proud right? Now imagine how proud she’d be if you opened a café, named it after her and sold jams and pickles made from her original recipes to the people of the Gold Coast. Next-level.
Now most of us will probably never manage to make our grandmas that proud but there are a couple of local lads who will (and no doubt have already). Those two are Matt Schnitzerling and Nate Bultitude – owners of Banora Point’s sweet new eatery Dulcie & Edna.
Imagine how proud your grandma would be if you opened a café, so proud right? Now imagine how proud she’d be if you opened a café, named it after her and sold jams and pickles made from her original recipes to the people of the Gold Coast. Next-level.
Now most of us will probably never manage to make our grandmas that proud but there are a couple of local lads who will (and no doubt have already). Those two are Matt Schnitzerling and Nate Bultitude – owners of Banora Point’s sweet new eatery Dulcie & Edna.
Now the menu is filled with delicious things too, served up by two Chefs who have quite the impressive rap sheets. Josh Garard was the senior chef at Far North Queensland’s Nunu; a hatted restaurant we have long wanted to visit and Cam Perrins (who is quite the baking extraordinaire) hails from the impressive likes of Botanica and Pearl Cafe.
Everything on the menu is made from scratch and each one is fresh and beautiful and we want to go there every day.
There’s a Broccoli and Potato Hash with zucchini, green sauce and poached eggs. YUM. The Chickpea, Beetroot and Miso burger (what) is the absolute goods as is the Crumbed Fish Sandwich, The Three Egg Omlette with ocean trout and the Pumpkin and Chickpea Falafel Bowl. All the things honestly.
To drink there’s coffee obviously – from Parallel Roasters in Brisbane – plus cold pressed juice from Hrvest, Kombucha, smoothies and MILKSHAKES. How good are milkshakes.
There’s also bread and croissants from beloved Burleigh Baker so you can take stuff home also.
It’s pretty much a dream come true this one guys.
Soon the crew will be selling said jams, relishes and pickles from said grandma recipes along with somebody’s famous cheese sticks, which is probably the greatest thing we’ve ever heard.
Get up there guys, it’s a goodie on all fronts.
LOCATION: 11/21-25 Amaroo Drive, Banora Point
HOURS: Monday to Friday 6.30am until 3pm, Saturday 6.30am until 2pm and Sunday 7am until 2pm
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
