SUBURBAN THRALL

GIDDY UP FOODSTORE

50 Princes St, Sandy Bay

6288 7392

Open Tuesday to Friday 7.30am to 3pm, Saturday and Sunday 7.30am to 2pm

It’s a long way from Sydney’s frenetic cafe culture to a side street in suburban Sandy Bay, as Giddy Up Foodstore owner Chris Bourke has discovered.

Like many folk from the big island, Sydneysider Bourke came to Hobart for a social visit and liked the place so much he ended up buying the fledgling Princes St eatery about 12 months ago. Originally a shop and newsagency, the cafe was opened in August 2016 by tsunami survivor and now AFL Tasmania boss Trisha Squires and husband Jake (a former Hobartian).

The couple, who told the Mercury they were drawn together by their “mutual love of health food”, named their new coffee and smoothie bar Nutrient. After several months of trading, Bourke changed the cafe name in December and has added an al fresco courtyard filled with greenery where patrons and their four-legged friends are welcome.

Our first visit is early on a Friday afternoon. For me, it’s a welcome escape from the often oppressive environment of the open-plan office. When we sit at an inside table about 12.30pm, a woman is tucking into a bowl of tempura cauliflower at the next table. It looks good.

There’s a mural of a ginger-bearded hipster with green glasses on one wall, right opposite an impressive array of indoor plants. Bourke is an avid gardener and it shows.

My other half orders a coffee as we wait for a space in the sunny courtyard outside. His long black comes in a coral-coloured cup with plenty of crema, just the way he likes it. Fortunately, within about five minutes, the waitress returns to offer us an open-air seat.

With a hi-tech louvred roof that closes automatically at the first sign of precipitation, it’s a cleverly designed space that can also be used in inclement weather.

There are slat timber tables running along the side, smaller tables, and low bench seats organised loosely around repurposed craypots. There’s an abundance of plant life.

Although it’s lunchtime, we order from the breakfast menu. I opt for the Mexi eggs, while my long-black loving other goes for the breakfast burger. Our meals arrive amid glorious spring sun. My coriander-flecked fried eggs are beautifully runny, perched atop smashed avocado on sourdough toast. The charred corn and tomato salsa is spiked with spicy jalapenos, with a smoky sour cream dressing and a cheek of lime on the side.

The egg-and-bacon burger is fancier than many on menus around town, served with crispy fried haloumi, chilli relish, avocado, chunky hand-cut, skin-on fries and aioli. It gives me serious food envy.

We are in and out within the hour, booking a table to return with friends the following day. Our second visit is less successful, coming during a post-breakfast lull on a Saturday.

The wait for food is long, perhaps because I have committed the faux pas of ordering a chicken burger 15 minutes before the lunch menu officially kicks in at 11am. Our bearded buddy, accustomed to cracking the whip in a busy steakhouse, gives staff a gruff but generally good-natured gee up.

Thankfully, my burger is worth the wait — a crispy coated thigh on a brioche bun with coleslaw and shaved cheddar. There are also more of those more-ish fries.

Bourke is about to move Giddy Up into its next phase as a night-time venue offering tapas-style fare.

“It’s been hard work, a bit different from the Sydney market,” Bourke says, noting the back-street location has proved quite a challenge.

“But, as it turns out, that is the best part about it.”