I’m the youngest of 4 boys and I grew up in Melbourne. My father died when I was about 14 which had an impact on my life obviously. He was an interesting man. I met a lovely lady when I was 20 and her parents were from Byron so we came up here on holidays and and bought a cafe in Lennox which was The Point Cafe. We took that over in 2006.
There was a big movement in the mid 90’s in Melbourne with cafes opening, little restaurants in laneways. I was 19 or 20 and working as an apprentice in a kitchen. There was lots of movement going on with new styles of food, new restaurants popping up. At that time you could open something super cheap. As long as you had a bathroom and adhered to council regulations you were good to go. During that time there were a lot of little wine bars and tapas bars opening right across Victoria. It was an interesting and an enjoyable time. I was working in Greville St in Prahan and that was cool. I started my apprenticeship there and I loved it. There was a team of about 24 in the kitchen so it was high pace. A lot of egos but for a person who really liked food it was perfect.
So getting back to our move up here. We came up on holiday and I ended up bringing my apprenticeship with me and got a job at Raes at Wategos in Byron. I was there from 2001 to 2003. Once qualified I went back to Melbourne and ran a few restaurants which was a great experience for a person of 25. Once I had conquered what I felt I wanted to do there we came back to Lennox and took over the restaurant we called The Point Cafe which we had for about 9 years.
I moved away from that, worked a few places in Byron and ended up falling in love with a little shop in Lismore which was called Keen on Green. I think the heavens shone above me because we were exchanging the week before the flood hit but due to unforeseen circumstances we didn’t get over the line beforehand. Unfortunately once the floods had come through it pretty much left an empty space and from an empty space you can create something. That’s what we’re doing here in The Shoebox Cafe. We’ve been open 3 weeks and things are travelling along. It’s nice to be back doing something I love with staff I enjoy and creating a product I think is great. The name sort of fell into my lap. The cafe space is long and thin and its a small little hole in the wall style. It reminds me of a shoebox and it reminds me of Melbourne and little ‘hole in the walls’ down there. I’ve kept to my essence of what I like to do. I have my personal touches and eclectic mix of different things in the cafe. We cater hugely for vegans and vegetarians, raw cakes, etc. We do a big range of cook to order, full breakfasts which do include eggs and bacon, the whole spectrum. Everything is done on site as well. We do our own Briskets and sauces.
I have 2 beautiful boys 10 and 12 and in my spare time we go mountain biking and hiking. The boys are really into their sports so I’m dad’s taxi which is fine. I have a beautiful partner Katie with a beautiful daughter. She’s an amazing person and a really good friend. She’s studying to be a nurse.
I love the diversity of Lismore. So many different walks of life. It’s really multi cultural with an eclectic mix of people. The Uni’s here which is great. A lot of professional people and a lot of transient people as well. It’s not too far from the hinterland and we’re only half hour from the coast. We live in such a beautiful area if you want to go for hikes or walks, waterfalls or the beach.