Last week I met Stephen Saric, the bloke with the toughest job in Australia – he is the food services manager at the Coogee Bay Hotel. You might recall that this hostelry became famous last summer when some additional organic material found its way into a serving of icecream.
Well I was cruising around looking for a decent coffee when I was taken aback by the menu – they were putting mystique and sizzle into things by emphasising the regional source of their steaks!
SIRLOIN grain fed – 250gm Angus New England NSW $22
PRIME EYE FILLET – 250gm Gympie QLD $25
WAGYU RUMP Marble 5+ – 300gm Toowoomba QLD $26
T-BONE – 500gm Angus 150 day Kilcoy QLD $29
This is extremely rare in a middle-priced eatery in an urban environment. Stephen explained that he’d be willing to consider offers from other regional producers, subject to QA assurances and reliability of supply. Hats off to Stephen for having a crack. It is an iconic pub, with lots of history. The owner for many years was leviathan bookie, Terry Page, and it’s seared into the memories of half the nation’s ex-footballers.
And it has got us thinking – we have Cockatoo members in iconic towns with quality produce that could dovetail nicely onto the Coogee menu e.g. Kym raves about the saltbush lamb from out Wilcannia way, Peieta says Cunnamulla has fantastic beef, Chris has his innovative small species abattoir at Bega, Rob knows who’s who in the Heyfield beef industry. Who’s interested in exploring this further?
Contributed by Silverhawk
