Restaurant Mason may have closed after 10 successful years in Newcastle but Chris Thornton hasn't hung up the apron just yet.
Not only does he cater for private dining experiences, he is also on this year's Variety of Chefs Newcastle line-up. Thornton is a familiar face at the charity event, which this year takes place on August 6 at City Hall.
Variety - the Children's Charity works to provide programs, experiences, grants and scholarships to improve children's lives.
"No matter what I'm doing, I'll always be a chef," Thornton said. "I miss it a lot but looking at the current situation - the catastrophic staffing problem and prices and interest rates going up - I think I made a very, very smart decision."
Thornton will be joined in the Variety of Chefs kitchen by fellow chefs Adrian Richardson, Justin North, Tim Montgomery, Frank Fawkner and Shayne Mansfield.
"It's a cracking line-up. I can't wait. I'm doing the main, which is my favourite course to do," Thornton said.
Variety of Chefs Newcastle 2022 will be hosted by Erica Davis and My Kitchen Rules star Romel Kouyan.
New era for Shells Cafe
Gerry and Rosa Perone are handing over the keys to Shells Cafe at Cardiff on Friday after 28 years in business.
The couple opened the cafe on March 13, 1995, in Cardiff Arcade. Word of the warm welcome (and sympathetic ear) offered by Gerry and Rosa soon spread. Their simple but tasty home-cooked menu quickly won fans.
The cafe is not visible from the street, nor does it have a view, but it has attracted new and repeat customers for close to three decades.
For many Shells Cafe customers, Gerry and Rosa have become lifelong friends.
Gerry and Rosa's daughter Pasqualina grew up in the cafe, watching her parents work. She gets emotional as she talks about the family business.
"The cafe has had the same customers for decades - many go in on the same day and at the same time every week," she said.
"Some customers have passed away over the years because they are a bit older. Mum and Dad always get invited to the funerals and they always go. They have even catered at the funerals as well, when asked.
"People go to the cafe for the food and the coffee but they more so go for my parents. If they need advice from Dad or if something has happened in their lives, good or bad, they'll visit for a chat.
"It's very sweet. Mum and Dad have even been been on holidays with their customers."
She recalls being at the cafe with her younger brother "every single school holiday".
"We started off playing in the kitchen with our colouring-in books, and we had to be really quiet. Then we started doing little jobs around the cafe and I had to stand behind the counter because I was cute [laughs].
"We've grown up with a lot of the customers - they've known us since we were very young."
The menu at Shells Cafe has not changed much in 28 years, Pasqualina says.
"Mum and Dad always tried to have Italian dishes on the menu, because they're Italian, things like pasta and lasagne. The chicken scaloppini was very popular," she said.
"They also served a lot of hot food, like chicken schnitzels, beef rolls, roast of the day with gravy, plus coffee and cake.
"The cafe is kind of a relic of times gone by. Dad painted it not long ago to make it look more modern, but the menu has pretty much stayed the same - mainly because the customers have stayed the same. They don't really like change so why fix what's not broken?"
Pasqualina says her parents are "very active people" so she is not sure what they will do with their time when they hand over the keys to Shells Cafe to a new owner on Friday.
"They have mixed emotions, I guess. My Dad loves fishing so he is excited to go fishing every day, but they're pretty sad as well because the cafe has been their life and a lot of customers are their friends as well.
"They're sad that they won't see their friends every day but it's time.
"They've worked six days a week for 28 years.
"They might travel back home to Italy to see family, though, which will be nice."
The new owner, who I hope to feature in an upcoming column, is taking over where Gerry and Rosa left off and continuing to run the cafe in the arcade. Cardiff locals, show your support!
Oktoberfest in city
The Station Newcastle will be transformed into a "German Wunderland" on October 1 for Oktoberfest, organisers Nokturnl Events say, with live entertainment, a silent disco, sideshow alley with rides and games, German food and beers, and more. Tickets are $39.90 at Moshtix.
"We're excited to be finally coming back to Newcastle after a three-year COVID hiatus," Nokturnl director Ross Drennan said.
"The first event we held in Newcastle back in 2019 was great fun and it's looking like growing significantly this year."
Perfect Plate winners
The 2022 Your Local Club Perfect Plate Awards winners have been revealed.
More than 160 club eateries from 142 NSW clubs created a special competition dish for their menu, with members and patrons invited to score the meals out of five and cast their votes.
Diners could only vote for each Perfect Plate dish once, but they were encouraged to taste as many competition dishes at as many NSW clubs as possible to boost their chances of winning a prize.
At the state level, Tea Gardens Country Club's The Garden Eatery placed third in the small club category for its Mongolian beef dish.
Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club's Nautica Dining won the Newcastle and Hunter Valley regional category (barramundi), followed by The Garden Eatery in second place. Third place was a tie between Easts Leisure & Golf's The Valley Restaurant (beef cheek) and Nelson Bay Bowling & Recreation Club's Marlins at the Bay Restaurant (prawn and scallop linguini).
Freebie of the week
As immigrants with Chinese heritage who both moved to Australia as children, Rosheen Kaul and Joanna Hu spent their formative years living between two cultures.
Their book Chinese-ish celebrates the confident blending of culture and identity through food: take what you love and reject what doesn't work for you. You'll find a bounty of inauthentic Chinese-influenced dishes, including the best rice and noodle dishes, wontons and dumplings, classic Chinese mains and even a Sichuan Sausage Sanga.
Chinese-ish is out now through Murdoch Books, RRP $39.99. Food & Wine has a copy to give away. To enter, send the word "Chinese-ish" with your name, address and number to freelunch@newcastleherald.com.au. Entries close on Monday at 9am.
