Ali offers tasteful Melbourne chic
TUCKED away in a shopping precinct in Freshwater is a slice of Melbourne everyone in Cairns will know about soon.
Ali Matar opened Forty Weight Cafe eight months ago after moving from the Victorian capital to the Far North seeking a better lifestyle.
The former commercial painter has hit on somewhat of a niche market in the Cairns foodie scene, employing his mum Youlia Kassab, a longtime local, to turn out fresh dips, sauces, cakes and meals with a Mediterranean flavour.
“We came up from Melbourne a year ago and sold up everything to have a better life,” said Mr Matar, who is half-Syrian, half-Lebanese.
“We want to bring a little bit of Melbourne to Cairns.”
Mr Matar said, although the food is a hit, customers have also been impressed that coffee cups, lids and trays are biodegradable and the cafe uses metal straws.
“My wife is a vegetarian, so a lot of it is to do with her view of looking after what we’ve got Earth-wise,” he said.
“Our new item, which is really popular, too, is a vegan burger with hummus in it.
“After that, it is our sugar- free cakes. My mum makes every cake here.”
The business is open Tuesday to Sunday, at 227 Kamerunga Rd, and is a wholehearted family affair.
Mr Matar’s mother-in-law even found the ad for the premises in the Cairns Post classifieds while she was in Melbourne.
Forty Weight Cafe also uses a custom blend of coffee beans from a local roaster.