Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Sensory Lab - David Jones

Another big win for us! It seems not a week passes without something AMAZING happening for the support of Frank, Food & Me.
Last Saturday our cakes debuted in "Sensory Lab" the new face of David Jones on Little Collins St, Melbourne.

INSANE! I know!

I just couldn't have even imagined 6 months ago that this little concept of mine and my love for baking would take me so rapidly to such soaring heights, when there are so many amazing pastry chefs out there!
I am so humbled by it all.

But I have to say it wouldn't be even the remotest bit possible without having such an inspiring group of mates, and the world's best husband!
The farmer's Market community have become my Melbourne family, keen to find out more and do anything for you. And my mates have been rallying around with enthusiasm...seems if you pitch a dream at people, it is almost an imperative for them to want to help make that happen for you.

So here I am, staring at the top rung of my brown paper poster i stuck on the fridge six months ago, where i said that my ultimate life would be:
" Farmer's market involvement, a produce business, vege patch, plenty of love, and a big kitchen"

I think I have pole vaulted past that - might be time to set some new goals...like "time" to give something back to everyone that has helped me!

Thank you for your support and encouragement...it never goes un-appreciated!

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Farmers Market and more!

It's been a few months of mayhem and growth for Frank, Food & Me.
We have been attending markets at the Abbotsford Convent on both Friday night's Supper Market and Saturday's Slow Food Farmers Market.


It has been grand getting to know our customers face to face, as wholesaling to cafes around the traps doesn't give me that opportunity.

The feedback has been amazing. I now understand that FFM cakes are unlike any other cakes available in Melbourne cafes. I have been offered old family favourite recipes from regulars, and have got fantastic following of kids who live for the rhubarb swirl shortbreads!




It's so festive and fun being around the laughter and indecision of children choosing their favourite treat, or their parents deliberating if they too should treat themselves. In the background live salsa plays, and drinkers shake barakas in one hand, beer in the other...

It feels like all the hard work in the kitchen is worthwhile when I get to come and play at the market...and its pretty fun getting my tyres pumped up by all my followers!

Speaking of followers, the Chef and part-owner of Outpost by St. Ali, told me today that people come in and actually say "Oh yay, you have Frank, Food & Me cakes"!!!
How funny is that...people want to eat my cakes!

So if you want to come and eat cake, or buy/ order your Christmas Puddings or Fruit cakes with me in person, come and visit me at the markets!

Saturday 28th NOV at Abbotsford Convent Slow Food Farmers market 8am-1pm
Friday 4th DEC at Abbotsford Convent Supper Market 6-10pm
Friday 11th DEC at Abbotsford Convent Supper Market 6-10pm
Friday 18th DEC at Abbotsford Convent Supper Market 6-10pm
Wednesday 23rd DEC at TWILIGHT Abbotsford Convent Slow Food Farmers market 3pm-8pm


Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Di's Rhubarb






Di McDonald has been growing rhubarb for years.
It all started when a farmer she was working for couldn’t afford to pay her, so he gave her some rhubarb cuttings.
Evidently he gave her a lot more than a bit of cash to get her though the next few months, he gave her a livelihood.

Di leases a block of land from Tahbilk Vineyard. The setting is amazing, the rhubarb grows on a gum lined bank of the Goulburn River. Grass parrots potter in the green grassy rows between the rhubarb stems. Kingfishers duck and weave in and out of woody hollows.



Di lives in one of three workers cottage on the vineyard, and whilst she doesn't have any immediate family, the vineyard workers are her extended family.

When you drive in the dusty road to the vineyard you can see Di, head down bum up, quite literally. Picking and tending to her rhubarb is how she relaxes.
Working 7 days a week, making her own compost, weeding, taking care of her girls (the chooks)who take care of her rhubarb, is all in a weeks work.


On Saturday mornings she wakes at 3am to drive to Melbourne for the Farmer's Markets. It takes her two hours to get to the city down the Hume freeway.
By the time she has a cuppa back on the farm, Saturday has been 16 hours long.


Its hard work, but she is richly rewarded with "moments" on her farm. Today she watched two turtles baking in the sun at the river while she pumped water, and the migrating Kingfishers circled above her head.
She wouldn't have it any other way.
You can buy Di's rhubarb from any of the Melbourne Community Farmers Markets
www.mfm.com.au

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

4 months on...and no time to scratch!

Frank, Food & Me has been up and running for about 4 months now, and has time flown!
In fact it has probably been that long since you last heard from me on this blog! I really had no idea how busy it was to run your own business, but feel a lot better of late, as I seem to have started to get my head around it all, and have some clarity to my thoughts!

So what has happened in those few months since you have had the last update?
HEAPS!


So I had to do the boring stuff, ie. a business course, to keep Frank, Food & Me going. The whole time I was sitting there writing a 35-page business plan, I was thinking, “I wanna be baking...but you have to do it for the farmers!”. Afterall if I stuff-up the business side of it all, there is no point in baking! I have to admit, the big smiles I get when I walk up to the farmer's stalls at the market reinforces that I am doing it for the right reasons. We have developed a really lovely relationship over the past four months, they know I’ll be there come rain wind or sunshine, to get increasingly larger orders of rhubarb, apples, pears, oranges, lemons, nuts and dried fruit, butter and eggs. People keep telling me to get it all delivered, but then I would miss half the fun. I make the markets part of my relaxation time.


LATELY....

Talking about support, I am pretty proud to say that you can now find Frank, Food & Me cakes in 7 locations across Melbourne, which is testament to the owners for committing to locally produced ingredients and ultimately more flavoursome treats for their customers.
I had two phone calls in one week, where both people (who are now customers) had to blow up a photo from this blog, of the brownie wrapper, to get my phone number, to call and talk to me about the possible supply of cakes. It was hilarious, and very ingenious and detective-like of them to track me down, but it also made me feel pretty grand knowing that the appeal of the cakes made people go to that length. Alriiight!!
So now we trek down to Malvern East, as well as the northern suburbs for delivery too. The new store is called Servery and Spoon. They have the most amazing range of beautifully presented cakes that they make in-house, really wholesome and fresh. So it is an honour that they are choosing to support us as well. It was good to talk to a café owner that respected what Frank, Food & Me stood for. It was reassuring to know that our values ring true with people, and that there are other people out there that want to make the commitment to knowing and supporting where your food comes from.

A little lesson...
Back in May I had a phone call, from a chain store that sells frozen yoghurts. This call was a bit funny in two respects, 1/ the person calling said that they had been referred to me by one of my competitors, and 2/ they were a franchise (which scared me a little). Both respects ended in a great learning curve for me because I realized 1/ that the other people who bake cakes in Melbourne are REALLY nice people, and were supporting me too (I don’t know why I thought they wouldn’t like me, I felt a bit scared treading on their turf, as I am not a mean competitive type). Turns out they thought that I would be better suited to what the frozen yoghurt company wanted to do, so I felt very honoured that they had thought of me first, out of all the other little bakers out there! The second thing was, I had a realisation, that even though some of the most famous franchises are equally as famous for homogenizing culture, you can’t be a generalist and paint them all with the same brush! There are some out there that aren’t! and Igloo Zoo is one of them. I am so pleased to be involved with them, as they consciously choose to support small scale producers (like me), who support small scale growers, (like Di and John and Cihan,) to get the best possible flavour, with conscious thought to how it gets to be that way.
I was so impressed with Igloo Zoo, they have stores in Melbourne, Sydney and Queensland, and do not compromise on their values. They source local suppliers making a local version of their yoghurt in each store, but with the same quality and similar flavour. So it only took a little research to be more well-informed and make the decision to take them on as a client. We have been working happily together for about 4 months now. You can taste FFM crumbles made from Di’s rhubarb, and John’s apples, as well as the chocolate polenta cake, chai tea and honey cakes (featuring Happy Fruits fabulous muscatels), and the most divine pears straight from John Howell’s farm poached in a vanilla bean syrup. So next time you are moseying around that area, check them out…their pomegranate yogurt with organic halva is a tastebud festivale too! www.igloozoo.com.au

Moving on from there, we have done a little event cake baking too!
I recently flew down to Tasmania to bake, having Frank, Food & Me cakes featured as centrepieces on the tables of a fabulous fundraising function at the Salamanca Arts Centre. www.salarts.org.au
In the Long Gallery, a truly beautiful wooden space, where back in the early days Huon Valley apples were canned, there were 20 tables arranged, each with their own individual spotlight shining straight on to the Frank, Food & Me cake centerpieces. I was so proud of them, they truly looked like a decadent Marie Antoinette style feast, all they needed was Marie herself to be entwined among them. There they balanced with poise and grace, on vintage crockery, tins, eggcups and beaters, triangles of brownie piercing through teacup handles and cones of cherries reflecting the warmth of the room.
Oh how fabulous they looked! Unfortunately the photos don’t really do them justice (photography hiccup!!) But nonetheless I was proud, and heaps of people had such wonderfully supportive things to say.

And last Friday we extended another little olive branch, and started supplying some creative studios with our cakes too. Our first shipment went express post to Sydney, for the office of Terroir Architecture to enjoy… www.terroir.com.au They were pretty stoked to receive them, from all accounts an unsual bout of fisty cuffs occurred to sort out who would collect the mail. It was nice to be the instigator behind a little Friday office “love-in”, as I don’t think we have enough of these! And wonderful for Frank, Food & Me to have the support of such a wide community!
So thanks team Terroir, we are loving your support.

You can have cakes for afternoon tea too if you like…Just send an email to kath@frankfoodandme.com…look forward to hearing from you.



I also joined the 21st century today…I have been resisting joining stalker book (aka, facebook), but Frank, Food & Me can! So now you can see what’s happening more regularly on Frank, Food & Me’s twitter and facebook pages. Arrrgghhhh – what have I done!?

Thank you for your patience in receiving this blog entry, watch this space for more soon, and feel free to comment, tell us about your business/ ventures. It is always nice to know that there are other people out there trying to:
1/ do what they love
2/ live sustainably
3/ support local food and design culture
4/ enjoy themselves!





Bye for now….

Monday, May 4, 2009

EVERYONE LOVES THEM!!!


What an amazingly insane week it has been! I could never have imagined how successful our first week would be. Frank Food and Me now features in 4 cafes across Melbourne, and the feedback has been unbelievable. We delivered our first batch of cakes on Friday to three stores for their weekend trade. It was to be a testing ground for future purchases, and this is the feedback we received...

"People can't get enough of your cakes, they are so beautifully presented, and stay so moist and yummy that I have sold out of all of my weekend's supply just on Friday, we are going to have to do bigger orders starting this week", Ange.

"Well, they have all sold out already, let's get another batch of the same for Monday, people are loving them." Sam.

"We sold out of everything on Saturday, and I would love the same again for Monday, and I would be very interested in your savoury pies, when you get them up and going!" Judith.

So it seems we are in business. Absolutely exhausted, surrounded by stamped pieces of cake paper, driving all over Melbourne every five minutes to get ingredients cos we keep running out, and having constantly sticky fingers from so many cake mixes, but we are TOTALLY happy.

Thank you everyone for all your support and positive feedback. I received about 40 emails when we announced our cakes on the blog, and I just don't have time to write back to everyone for now, but I am sincerely appreciative of the support. It is extra important because selling cakes wholesale means you operate in a bubble a bit, relying on the retailers feedback, so it's great to hear from everyone.

I had a moment today when dropping off a delivery, where I saw a lady choosing a cake from my selection, with her child. Her comments as she worked her way through each type of cake were so uplifting and a rare moment of feedback direct from the horse's mouth.

We can't believe you guys want to buy what we just love cooking, it is wonderful.

Thank you everyone! Hope we can be serving in your neighbourhood cafe soon!

Frank, Food and Me Cakes are available at a growing number of cafes throughout Melbourne's CBD and south of the river.



The Official First Orders leave the kitchen!!

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Frank, Food & Me Baking is up and baking



I have been hitting the pavement of late with my cake samples.

At first we were a little scared, thinking if we actually went out there and tried to sell our cakes, pies and cookies to cafes, and they said they didn't like them, we would actually have to consider another career. We wouldn't have given up that easily obviously, but it is pretty scary putting you heart and soul out for judgment!

But there was no where to go, we couldn't keep testing recipes, baking cakes, and having no one buy them. We had to take it out of the theoretical world and into the real one...We had to sell these little tackers, so sell we did.

We are proud to say that Frank, Food & Me now has its first customers, and we are off and baking!

Now that we have all our branding, I thought it was time to share the vision, and show off some of our range! So here they are.


The Frank, Food & Me Sample Plate


Some tasters for the cafe folk


Rich Chocolate Brownie




Seasonal Fruit Crumble Pie


Poppy's Persian Shortbread


Lemon Cake with Seasonal Fruit (whatever is freshest and bestest from the farmers market goes into these lovelies!)


Morning Bircher Loaf: this one was created for a client that sells most of his cakes in the morning with coffees, something different from the muffins!


Me minis: these little beauts are for the chil'ens. Kids love icing in all its bright gooey glory, but no one loves a hyper kid,or the sugar low that follows, so these are an adaptation of the Lemon Cake with big juicy blueberries(when they are in season - something else otherwise) and an all-natural fruit icing.


Chai Tea and Honey Cake: a little creation of mine containing Calmer Sutra Chai Tea and Honey, great served warm with a dab of local honey.


Oatmeal Bali Biccies: These are heavy and wholesome, the recipe is from a health retreat I visited years ago in Bali, and a beautiful Balinese waiter took the time in perfect Indonesian English to write it on the back of a restaurant docket for me!


Citron Polenta: a homage to the woman I travelled to Paris to work for, Rose's Citron Polenta cake is UNREAL and is also gluten free.


A Chocolatey version of the Citron Polenta, adapted with some sheep's milk yoghurt to cut through some of the butter, and add a bit of sharpness - also gluten free.


Lemon Cake with Seasonal Fruit: at this time of the year rhubarb is great, so I grabbed some from Di at the market - best rhubarb in town, and tartness matches perfectly with an appley lemon base in this cake.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

When you put yourself out there....

Since you last heard from me, oh boy, a lot has happened.

We left Europe after a fabulous food discovery tour, all of which will be listed in subsequent blogs. I sucked the life out of every local food scene we stumbled across.

From Paris to Lyon, Lyon to Genova, Genova to Cinque Terra * the best food of my life*




to Florence,
Rome
and Catania (Sicily)
followed by Venice, Innsbruck, Munich, Prague, Hungary and Vienna, we finalized the feast of culture and life, in a small picturesque town of Hallstatt. This was a Christmas that I will never forget. Lovely produce, a traditional turkey, and all the trimmings in the land where Christmas began. Unbelievably relaxed, it even snowed exactly as we sat down for lunch! We completed the fairytale with tobogganing on Boxing Day.






BACK IN AUS!!


It was equally incredible to be back home in Aus. I felt that whilst I was overseas, there was so much to learn, but also, so much that didn’t necessarily apply to us. We are a young free country. We have so many unbelievably diverse cultures ruminating together in one grand soup pot that we could be forgiven for not keeping up with Europe. Europe was a fantastic learning ground for what I can see Australia will be in thousands of year’s time. I predict a confident country with a strict food identity, like France and Italy, Germany and even England.
But for right now, we are still experimenting, so I have decided that it is ok, and even quite fitting that here I am, in this country, experimenting with my cakes and baking, blazing the trail as I go, just like the rest of the country.

To be frank, right now, there is no place I would rather be. I have had moments of severe confusion. I have backed down from opportunities knocking at my door with fear of it all actually working out, just as I had planned!
This is half of the reason that you have heard from me less! I was busy sitting in the confusion…do I go back to TV, or do I stay here, where my dream of a baking business (the start of building a brand that my cafe will follow)is ACTUALLY working!

Ok you need some backstory! Anth and I arrived in Melbourne in early February. Within a week my girlfriend had found me a client for my baking, and whilst sourcing produce for the baking for that cafe, I also sourced myself another client.
Now I already have two clients, both hugely understanding that I am learning, but the proof is in the pudding, and proof they got! I rushed around with samples, and obviously impressed them…and now, here I sit with a real chance of getting off the ground with a little baking business.

Opportunities, people and ideas keep presenting themselves, even though I am still convincing myself that this is the right thing to do!

This blog is keeping me honest and accountable. Accountable to myself and my dream.

In my opinion, if anyone tries to tell you starting a business is going to be a hard road, and will it all be worth it...etc etc, then maybe you need to question a little and see how that fits with you, BUT what I have worked out is that the only person that often doesn’t let you succeed is just yourself.
Because, it kind of does start falling into place, people do accept you into their community, they want to teach you and guide you when they can see it REALLY IS your passion that is guiding you...so maybe it is meant to be. Right now I am putting my fear aside and going with the “meant to be” idea, knowing I have something to offer and honourable intentions to spread. For you, and the good of understanding, I will continue to be a pane of glass in this development process!

Right now, i need to go tend to my rhubarb that a possible 3rd client has given me to do something cakey and yummy with!!!

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

New Post on the way




Anth and I have been settling into our new home in Melbourne, Aus.
Sorry for the lack of updates...its been a tough time, but now we have come up for air, I have time to share with you.
You will be so proud of what I have achieved since I have been home, so watch this space for an onslaught of blogs about my progress and transition into food glorious food!
in the mean time, here are a couple of photos from that lovely day with Meg in packaging town! We even had time for lovely little lunch together.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Japanese LOVE to package

So that's why today, I am taking a trip with my wonderful Japanese 'surrogate' Mother, Megumi Yasuda, to "Paper town".

Tokyo has so many little sub-pockets, many of which are dedicated to a specific thing, like fabric, chef supplies, plastic food!, but today, we are going to take a look at packaging. My hope is to find some great prototypes for packaging my cakes for market...build a bit of value-adding into the product. But the only problem is, I kinda don't like too much packaging because of the environmental ramifications. So today my mission is to find something that fits into my philosophy, as well as presents well...so it will need to be minimal.

I will post some photos later, but just wanted to let you know that I am excited!

I also had an inspired idea lying awake in bed last night, as to my trademark for my cakes...you know, the thing I would be known for. This bed here at Yasuda Inn (2 train stops from Shinjuku, so very convenient if anyone needs a place to rest their heads while in Tokyo)... this bed's doona must be full of clouds instead of feathers, as I always seem to come up with great ideas when I am lying in it!

Watch this space for some photos of my adventure with my favourite Japanese mother.

Ps. you don't know all my amazing stories about Megumi, or much about our time in Tokyo, as this blog started when I started at Rose Bakery in Paris. Just know that we spent 7 months living in Tokyo before we moved to Paris. It was actually for my husband's experience to work with a great architect, but (as always, when you have no expectations) I got SO much out of living here. We decided that we wanted to visit on the way home to Aus, for some much needed Ramen, and Megumi, so here you find me...coming up with ideas that seem to bring together everything about my experience in France, with a little injection of Japan! Nice!

Friday, January 9, 2009

Lantana: a yummy pocket of Aus in London














A few days ago I had the pleasure of investigating a new little cafe in London's Fitzrovia area (closest underground stop is Goodge St).

In one of my many busy little days working at Rose Bakery, (yes, finally I will reveal to you that that is where I have been for the last 7 months), I met two vivacious and lovely fellow Australians, one the future proprietor, and her enthusiastic chef. They were full of anxious excitement. In their Paris food research itinerary, they were getting some final ideas from the Bakery, for their biggest venture yet, a little café in London, with the mantra of exceptionally good coffee.

I met them as they balanced there on the edge of freefall. I remembered vividly the look in Shelagh Ryan, the proprietor’s eyes as she talked to me over her meal at the Bakery. It was a look of exhilaration, but a definite “am I gonna pull this off” kinda look. I took particular notice, because I knew that fast forward a few years, and I will be there where she was, on the same edge.

I promised I would go and visit them when I was in London next. So I did.

Shelagh, the proprietor, looked at me with a hint of recognition in her eyes as I walked into the café (which was a little hard to find, but kind of appealing for the same reason). It was nice to be remembered, and I know most people like to feel that way, an instant “I’m part of the club” feel.

Lantana is one of those cafes that it would be hard to feel intimidated by when you walk in, despite of the raised platform upon which you enter (which begs “everyone look at me”.) The central counter and cool little take –away waiting area is wooden, which adds softness to the white cement walls. As does the very cool mural on the back wall, done by Melbourne artist and designer. The mural continues on to the take away coffee cups and tableware.



It was bloody freezing outside, and one of the waiters was the poor soul that was stationed on the exterior of the shop window, serving soups and sangers to the “too busy to sit and eat” Londoners. A great idea to get the hoards in. Lantana is really in a great little area, and there is plenty of foot traffic from what I noticed.

Something I really liked while I was shopping and roving through Italy was that many of the streets had music playing, just for the enjoyment of the shoppers. I reckon because Lantana is one of those cafes that make you feel like YOU discovered it, maybe they could use the same principle, and play a little of their laid back tracks to the passing crowds, and attract a bit more attention in a very subtle way. But the place was full when we were eating there, so I could be convinced that they don’t need the extra attention!

So anyway, you probably want to know what the food was like right…well in a Rose Bakery/ Ottolenghi-esque way, the counter was covered in colourful fresh baked goods and salads. I liked the way the platters were displayed on different levels, something I think Rose Bakery could have done a little better.





The coffee machine sits like a proud peacock on the counter, and commands attention, but so it darn well should, as the Monmouth coffee coming out of it is liquid gold, especially in London (MY GOD there is BAD coffee in London). I know I am not telling you anything you don’t already know about coffee standards in London, but EVERY day I was there, I was stunned at the averageness of the average in coffee and food. Incredibly mediocre across the board, and I can’t understand why Londoner’s don’t demand better. I just cannot understand it.


So back to Lantana. I decided to order some of the colourful salads on the counter, because I wanted to see if the chef had managed to match the yumminess of the salads at the Bakery. And I am pleased to report, that she did! It is really hard to get a good salad, and Lantana has got it right. From what I have learnt, it is hard to season a salad right, and hard to match produce that is in season, with other produce that’s ion season, to get the right look, colour, texture and of course flavour…the reason it’s so hard, is because there is nothing good about an over-dressed and over-done salad. The raw-er (is that a word?) the better. Masking the wonderful flavours of the vegetable doesn’t make for a good salad, I don’t think!

My sister is a gluten-intolerant, generally irritating person to eat-out with (but I love her cotton-socks), so she chose the risotto. She said it was packed with flavour and a good serving size…not too over the top. I don’t know how to make a good risotto yet, so I can’t really comment too professionally, but Caroline taught me that it’s super important to cook the onions for a longer-than-you-think time, and to keep them nice and clear in colour, which requires a low heat for a longer time. She said risottos should be lovely and creamy, not the remotest bit gluggy…and that’s exactly what we got at Lantana…creamy and flavourful, with really great tasty mushrooms.

Anth had the BELT, the apparent long lost cousin of BLT (according to Lantana’s menu!)
He said it was ok. He doesn’t particularly like hard crusty bread, but that is just a personal preference. In his words, it was just a BLT…he is right, they are not normally that memorable at the best of times! Maybe it just wasn’t what he felt like…

Lantana is a really beautiful and relaxed space, but as with most places, it’s the people that make it, and I can tell you that everyone at Lantana is great… professional, efficient and HAPPY! So if you need a fix of good coffee and a smile in your sometimes dreary London life go and check them out. I guarantee you the coffee is fantastic. So take a step out of your comfort zone of Starbucks or Costa, or any of the other crappy coffee chains that expats come to rely on just because you can rely on what you’re gonna get (what a sad and miserable reason to give multi-national, culture homogenising chains your money that could be better spent in a fantastic little café with an owner who is putting herself out there and her dream into action!!!)

On the whole I felt a bit like a proud mum going into Lantana. Even though I had only met the lovely ladies for ten minutes in Paris, I was SO unbelievably proud of them. This is something that most people would only dream of doing… taking your dream, the thing you most want to do in the whole world, and putting it into action. It sounds obvious, that if you want to do something then just do it, but then again, it could fail…and then what…you don’t even have the dream! So I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face when I saw that Shelagh was busy, happy (if not still a little tentative – cos when do you really know that it’s a success?!) and the pace was full. YAY for Shelagh!

Can I add here too, that it’s very easy for someone who is gathering, preparing, researching and hasn’t yet put her dream on the line, to sit here and chat about other people’s efforts!! Just remember that when you read this type of stuff ok?!


Lantana
13 Charlotte Place, (not STREET – that’s where I went wrong for a few minutes)
London W1T1SN, United Kingdom

Closest tube stop: Goodge street.