CHEAP TUESDAY DEALS
Country hospitality: this Mudgeeraba cafe celebrates its community character with a wealth of local produce, writes Sally Coates
FIRST it was Millers Hands, then Wanderer’s Eatery, now a beloved Mudgeeraba cafe is going back to its roots as Millers Espresso.
Nobody knows what the eatery stands for better than Russell Mundy, who went from kid off the street to owner and operator within a few years.
“When it first opened it was Millers Hands. I just walked in one day — probably about three years ago — seeing if they needed staff,” Russell remembers.
“Justin Walker owned the shop then and I gave my resume to the barista and saw Justin sort of looking at me from the kitchen.
“Within five minutes I had a voicemail telling me to come back at 2.30pm.
“He was like ,‘What’s your name?’ ‘Russell.’ ‘What do you want to do?’ ‘Anything really man.’
“And he told me I started on Monday. It was a judge of character thing — he seemed stoked I didn’t have experience, to be honest.”
Russell went on to climb the ranks, spurred on by Millers' Allpress Coffee, which Russell says is “hands down” the best brew in Mudgeeraba.
“I was a dishie and just running plates and then one day Justin’s like, ‘Wanna learn how to make coffee?’” he says.
“So then I was the barista and being with him all day I was able to pick up cooking tips from him. He’d been a chef for 20-odd years and done the travelling and all that.
“It’s a pretty small shop, so working so tightly together you’re constantly helping each other. “You learn really quickly. He almost was a bit like my Mr Miyagi.”
With the help of his wife, Russell now makes all Millers’ food himself, which means he knows — and loves — every ingredient in every dish.
“Doing 100 per cent of the food I know where everything has come from,” he says.
“If someone says, ‘Hey, what’s in this cake?’ I can literally list off every ingredient.
“If someone comments on the bacon I can say, ‘That’s from Worongary Organic Butcher, go see the boys and see how that cut is made’.
“We use Burleigh Baker, which is almost famous on the Gold Coast — I am obsessed with their almond croissants. I get so excited when they come in.
“Our produce comes from the Community Garden at Beechmont. Customers come in with fruit and stuff from their own garden like, ‘Do you want these bananas?’ and I’m like, ‘Yes! Coffee for you!’ It’s a community shop. Everybody is on a first-name basis.”
Everybody, including the suppliers, is treated like a local celebrity at Millers.
“We legit have the best hot smoked salmon on the Coast,” Russell says.
“There’s a guy named Greg and he hot smokes his own salmon and he also does mushrooms and tofu. It’s addictive.
“It almost tastes like he grabbed the fish straight out of the Atlantic and smoked it then and there.
“He comes in and people say, ‘Are you the guy with the salmon? I came to find you at the markets last weekend but you were sold out!’ And they’ll have a five or 10 minute conversation.
“That’s just one example — there are so many more like that.”
Whether it’s the suppliers, the customers, the coffee, the food or the space itself, everything at Millers is packed to the brim with love.
Russell will never settle for basic or boring when it comes to his food, personalising everything he can.
“Justin always said you don’t have to be a chef to cook, you just have to focus on the ingredients and pick what goes with what; flavour profile,” he says.
“Tiny things like a ham and cheese croissant — just ask, ‘Do you want a little chilli, what about a slice of pickled cucumber?’.
“Now you’ve taken a basic ham and cheese croissant to the next level — well not basic because it’s Burleigh Baker and they’re amazing and I’m obsessed — but even better.
“That’s the beauty of this place — you couldn’t do that in a chain restaurant or a massive cafe.
“Everything is a lot more personal.”