Devour nostalgia-inducing eats at Dutton Park newcomer Nos. Bakehouse & Cafe
A pair of imaginative chefs have teamed up to open a cafe designed to target our pleasure centres. Nos. Bakehouse & Cafe on Annerley Road in Dutton Park is looking to trigger fond memories and create new ones with its menu of salivation-worthy savoury dishes and array of drool-inducing desserts. If sandos on house-made shokupan, fork-tender slow-cooked beef ribs and yuzu brulee cheesecake sounds like a dream combo, this is the spot you need to check out.
Much like a song or a fragrance, taste has the ability to unlock a memory and transport us back in time. Evoking nostalgia is the core conceit of Nos. Bakehouse & Cafe, the brand-new cafe set to officially open to the public on Saturday December 7. The eatery is the brainchild of co-owners Susan Koh and Hank Lyu, a baker and chef, respectively, who have decided to pool their talents and open a cafe that mixes savoury items with a range of covetable baked goods.
Nos. Bakehouse & Cafe sits in a spot that might be familiar to Dutton Park diners. You’ll spy it on Annerley Road, in a space once home to a photo-developing studio and, more recently, Penny Coffee Co. After spying the space up for lease, Suzy and Hank jumped on the chance to snag the prominently positioned piece of real estate, engaging designers before embarking on a three-month renovation process. The team has exchanged Penny Coffee Co.’s minimalist aesthetic for one that’s a touch more homely – spartan timber banquettes have been given a varnish and extra padding, the dark exterior is now light and bright, while the back garden has also been given a sprucing. Paired with vintage decor, this interior makeover has crafted an atmosphere that is comfortable and welcoming.
“When we spoke about the cafe, I already had a vision in mind,” Suzy tells us. “I wanted the cafe to be comfortable and to have a vintage, nostalgic feeling. I didn’t want it to be too modernised – I just wanted to bring it back to a feeling of comfort.”
This sense of comfort has been infused into the menu, the majority of which is made entirely in house. Hank and Suzy have built the menu from family recipes and popular dishes that have been given innovative twists, giving diners a sense of familiarity accented by a bit of creative flair.
“Basically it’s good old comfort food with a nostalgic feeling and a contemporary Asian twist,” explains Suzy. “We want Brisbane to know that we are providing comfort food and we bake everything in-house from local produce.”
The offering starts with a range of sandos made using Suzy’s own house-baked shokupan bread. Fillings include tuna mayo with caramelised onion, garden filling (Kennebec potato, Beauregard sweet potato, celery, carrot, diced apple and free-range egg), or Japanese egg mayonnaise finished with a brulee-inspired touch. At this point Hank’s savoury items take centre stage – think super-tender 24-hour slow-cooked braised beef ribs with creamy whipped potatoes and roasted greens, chilled buckwheat noodles bathing in a Spanish-style vegetable consomme with seafood, and roasted sugarload cabbage with sour cream, chilli and leek oil and toasted almond flakes.
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From here, it’s all about the sweets. Susan is filling Nos. Bakehouse & Cafe’s dessert cabinet with a broad array of sweet treats, including twice-baked Callebaut dark chocolate cake with Speculoos jam filling and Seville orange creme anglaise, yuzu brulee cheesecake with a cookie-crumb base, and ube Basque cheesecake with ube marscapone cream. The shokupan also makes an appearance on the dessert menu, with the team using slabs of the soft loaf in its cinnamon French toast, which is topped with baked creme brulee and house-made graham cracker crumbs.
Something that will surely draw in crowds is Nos. Bakehouse & Cafe’s specialty beverages. In addition to quality coffee from Five Senses, the cafe is also slinging Basque cheesecake iced lattes and lavender-topped caffeinated concoctions.
“We want to try something new,” says Suzy. “I wanted to come up with something of our own, our own specialty. It’s the same concept as the food – to offering something contemporary with a twist.”
Nos. Bakehouse & Cafe will softly open to the public next week ahead of its grand opening on Saturday December 7. For operating hours and other important details, head to The Directory.