GOURMET ON WRAY, Fremantle
by JENNY D’ANGER:
According to the Huffington Post an emerging food trend for 2013 is vegetables as a main course. HuffPo is a Pulitzer-winning site so it clearly knows what it is talking about.
Chefs are apparently bored with searing pork chops and braising ribs and are experimenting with making vegetables superstars, rather than casting them in supporting roles.
I can’t wait.
Gourmet on Wray is ahead of the curve, with an array of mouth-watering gourmet burgers—including vegie varieties—as well as spinach wraps and rice paper rolls to choose from.
When the D’Angers called in for a very late lunch the cabinets were all but bare, but the cheery staff were only too willing to do poached eggs and salmon on toast, despite it not being on the menu.
In the end we kept things simple, both ordering the vegie stack ($12).
Having not read the blackboard properly I was expecting vegetables stacked neatly in the middle of a plate and drizzled with some sort of fancy schmancy sauce.
Which in a way is what I got, a huge and mouthwatering pile of chargrilled vegetables and a home-made aioli stacked between a crispy burger bun.
The accompanying chips weren’t half-bad either.
A bunch of young blokes at the next table were hoeing into chunky chicken burgers ($14), obligingly pausing mid-mouthful to tell me the chicken was flavoursome and moist, and the bacon cooked to perfection.
They were also pretty impressed with their coffees.
Therese Pitman took over Gourmet on Wray six months ago, keeping the burger range “because they are so good”, but introducing healthy options.
The chunky chicken burger and the magic mushroom one—a beef patty with sauteed fungi, brie, wilted spinach and lime aioli ($14)—are two of the best sellers, says the owner.
When the Herald reviewed this cafe 18 months ago it received a bad rap for its coffee. Ms Pitman is a fan of the roasted bean and was keen to get it right—and she has.
“I searched for four months for our barista. She’s from Brazil,” she told the Herald proudly.
Better quality didn’t come with a price hike and a regular takeaway coffee will set you back $3.20 and a large $4.
The breakfast menu looks amazing with spicy homemade beans with poached eggs and chunky sour dough $14, vegetarian and meat lovers’ versions of the big brekky, and intriguing lemon ricotta fritters with berries and yoghurt and maple syrup ($14).
Gourmet on Wray
20 Wray Ave, Fremantle
6219 5165
Tues to Fri 7am to 4.30pm (until the “right” chef can be found for the evening shift, when it will revert back to 9pm).