| The Food Lovers’ Guide to Perth Perth Food Review got a sneak peek of the book The Food Lovers’ Guide to Perth, which will be available in bookstores from the 1st of November 2007. The book is basically a pocket manual for the best food retailers in Perth. It shows locations, opening hours, parking details, website and a good description of what to expect, what is available and what the owner is like. We think it is a fantastic little guide and is a must have for anyone into cooking with great produce in Perth. Make sure you get yourself a copy!
We were lucky enough to conduct an interview with the two authors Julie and Lisa.
Julie Mews
Why did you settle in Perth?
My Claremont-born journalist husband Nelson lived and worked in London for over 35 years but when he retired he badly wanted to return to live in WA. In early October 2002 we left our London life and travelled slowly to Australia by liner, train, car and cargo ship, arriving to live here in December 2002.
What inspired you to write the guide?
When we first arrived we lived on our boat in Fremantle. Although I’d visited Perth nearly every year for 20 years, I didn’t know where to shop for food. In London I had run my own small, fairly upmarket catering company and I was used to being surrounded by very good food. I was constantly on the phone to Lisa, saying things like: “I’m sure there’s wonderful stuff out there but where is it? Who’s the best butcher? Where do I buy good bread?
A visiting journalist friend from London, Martin Woollacott, was staying with us for Christmas 2004 and one night Nelson, Martin and I were out for dinner with Lisa and her husband Fraser. Lisa gave me a copy of the Melbourne Foodie Guide as a gift and Martin suggested that Perth needed a food shopping guide and why didn’t I write it? Lisa and I had always planned to do something together so the idea was born.
How long did it take you to research all the locations?
We sent out over 200 questionnaires to food-loving friends and acquaintances, asking them to share their food shopping secrets with us. We fed all their recommendations into a database which formed the basis of our research. From mid-January to the end of June this year, when we delivered the book, the research, interviewing and writing of the entries was a very full-time occupation for us both.
Have you considered opening your own shop/café/restaurant?
Sometimes, when researching the book, I’d be in a particularly beautiful food shop, talking to a passionate proprietor, and I’d think: oh it would be lovely to have somewhere like this. I live in the Chittering Valley and we very badly need a good greengrocer selling seasonal produce. But then I remember how hard it was running my little business in London – so, no, I don’t think so!
Where do you enjoy eating out at the moment?
There’s a new, small French restaurant in Fremantle High Street called The Great Mellie which is excellent. We very much like NINE on the corner of Bulwer & Lake Streets in Highgate. We had a beautiful meal recently at the Essex Restaurant in Fremantle and Van’s in Cottesloe is a constant favourite for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Osteria dei Sapori in Nedlands cook the best veal chops in town and The Red Teapot on William Street serve the very best salt and pepper squid I’ve ever had.
What’s the origin of your interest in specialty food retailing?
Finding the most reliable, consistent and best suppliers is the absolute cornerstone of running a catering company or a restaurant. If the raw material isn’t the finest and freshest, all you are doing is a rescue job. I also love being able to discuss what I am buying with a shop-keeper so I’ve never been much of a supermarket shopper for that reason.
What surprised you most in researching and writing the guide?
Everyone who interviewed for our book was, almost without exception, passionate about what they were doing and extremely helpful in answering our endless questions and some even told us about other small, independent shops which we might not know about or which had just opened. Although I had quite strong opinions about food shopping before we started, I have learnt an incredible amount from talking to proprietors who have been generous with their time but even more importantly, generous with their knowledge.
We think that this book is going to be hugely popular. Are you already thinking of doing regular updates of the guide?
Thank you. We’d very much like to do updates but we’ll just have to wait and see how this first one is received!
Lisa Hummel-Robson
Why did you settle in Perth?
I grew up in a hotel in Mandurah and then moved to Perth as a teenager. In between travelling and living overseas, Perth has always been home.
What inspired you to write the guide?
My love of food! I love eating, cooking and reading about food and whenever I go travelling, I always end up in some food shop.
When I lived in London, I worked with Julie Mews in her catering company. We both shared a love of food and became firm friends. Julie and her husband Nelson (who is originally from Perth) decided to leave London and settle here in Perth. Julie would often call me to ask where to buy certain ingredients or we would talk about little food shops and delicious produce we had found while shopping. And then a friend of Julie and Nelson’s was visiting from the UK and sowed the seed. So with a lot of encouragement from family and friends, we decided to write The Food Lovers’ Guide to Perth – the book that we wanted to have in our handbags.
How long did it take you to research all the locations?
We began by sending out more than 200 questionnaires to food-loving friends and acquaintances, asking them to share their food secrets and shopping preferences. This information along with our own local knowledge formed the basis for our research. Using these valuable recommendations as a starting point, we then spent about 6 months tasting our way around Perth and talking to the owners of all the food stores included in the book.
Have you considered opening your own shop / café / restaurant?
Yes, the idea of having my own food shop/café has crossed my mind. Maybe one day when I have some spare time up my sleeve!!
Where do you enjoy eating out at the moment?
Anywhere where someone else is doing the cooking and the dishes!!!
My husband and I often go to Little Creatures in Fremantle. We love to take the kids there on the weekend and meet up with friends over a couple of beers and some pizza. Love having breakfast at John Street Café. Other favourites are Van’s in Cottesloe, Soda Café at North Beach, Boucla in Subiaco and Balthazar in the city. Next on my list of places to try is The Pony Club. Everyone keeps telling me how wonderful it is.
What's the origin of your interest in specialty food retailing?
Just a love of food really and wanting to know more about specialty ingredients - where they come from and the people who produce them.
What surprised you most in researching and writing the guide?
It would have to be all the fascinating and interesting people we met along the way. Everyone we talked to was so passionate and committed to what they are doing and gave us many valuable insights into their lives and businesses. We cannot thank them enough.
It also made me realise that we have a choice as to where we buy our food and if we don’t support and encourage these small businesses, we may in time lose them along with their valuable skills and traditions. We are very fortunate to live in a place where there is an abundance of fresh, local produce and we hope the book will help the reader find some of the many wonderful food shops we have here in WA.
We think that this book is going to be hugely popular, are you already thinking of doing regular updates of the guide?
Thank you for your support. If all goes well, we’d like to update and revise the book in two years.
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