“In 1999 I moved to Lismore. I bought the Dr Juice Bar in Keen Street with my partner at the time and we had the business for six years. That cafe was about fulfilling a dream of mine. I always wanted something just the two of us plus one staff could run.
When Dr Juice finished I found myself working with meat again for seven and a half years at Luvacoffee. I then spent two and half years at Goanna before coming to Just Grounds Cafe. A year after being here they decided to close and asked me if I would be interested in leasing it off them. I had always looked at this place and I saw it had great potential with the beautiful courtyard out the back. I thought, what a great place for a vegetarian cafe. Lismore has a few now but I thought there is still a market for what I do. It was all pretty sudden but I took over the lease at the start of July last year. We renovated for 2 weeks and re-opened with a new image, new name, new menu and the place took off from day dot.
The flood was absolutely devastating of course as it was for everybody. I live in Lismore Heights so I was cut off. I was beating myself up thinking, I should’ve done this and that but it was so fast and there was no time. Even if we had a bit more time, what do I do with an 80 kilo coffee machine? All our big fridges and equipment… unless you have a truck to get it on and up. It was unbelievable. We lost a lot of equipment, a couple of fridges, coffee machine, grinder, till, lots of small electrical stuff. We lost all our chairs but we were so lucky we had chairs donated by Wade and Wendy at Goanna. They were a perfect fit. I didn’t want plastic and now we have these chairs that are better than our old chairs.
It was awesome how so many people came to help. When we first opened the door fridges were on top of each other, thick mud covered everything. We couldn’t even get the door open. The mess outside, umbrellas, the garden courtyard covered in mud. We never thought it would recover but it’s come back really well. I was told when we took over the lease that there was no flood insurance. It wasn’t even an option. The thing is even those who had insurance in Lismore, the companies aren’t paying up.
I love the ‘Live and let live’ attitude here in Lismore, the diversity, everybody is welcome. It’s a good community. People look out for each other and that hasn’t been shown more than what we’ve all been through just a few months ago. Everyone has each other’s back. It was very emotional. I cried for a couple of days ( tears well again ). I would go to Centro and see heaps of jobs gone. It was so devastating. You get up and running and it’s good but its still so sore.
I have great staff. Some have worked here in the past business. Kate and Daisy are a good team. It’s not just a job to them. They love it and they really care about it.
I became a chef because I love to cook for people. I love to make people happy with food. I’m Vegetarian and have been most of my life because I love animals. I don’t think it’s necessary to have suffering for us to eat. We have so many options now and there is so much choice. Vegetarian cooking is just up to your creative flair and your imagination is the limit. Everybody’s into food now with all the mags and shows, the latest trends. Matcha this and Turmeric that! Everyone is trying to be extra clever with food. People are taking photos of their food for Insta. I love it when I see my food go out and someone takes a photo. It’s a lovely compliment.
I do it for the love of food, the love of feeding people. We make food to suit everyones choices. The amount of Vegans out there is great too so I’m taking it in a more Vegan direction by having a lot more Vegan options.
This Friday is our 1st Birthday. It’s been amazing. It’s been humbling. The support has been incredible. Please come down and celebrate our first birthday with us.”