JAC AND THE BEAN, Fremantle
by JENNY D’ANGER:
For most pregnant women, painting the nursery for an impending arrival is quite enough.
But Coogee local Jacquie Pember decided to open her first business—Jac and the Bean—on Fremantle’s High Street, in the old Magpie Books.
“It’s always been my dream,” she tells the Herald, adding she has no cooking qualifications but worked in hospitality for 10 years in her teens and early 20s.
The bean refers to the coffee sort, not the baby.
“It’s a big coincidence that I’m pregnant with a bean too,” she jokes.
The 25-year-old realised pregnancy and imminent motherhood meant the end of her life as a deckhand on an off-shore fishing boat.
“I set up while I was pregnant,” she says, with six weeks to go. “I could do that or sit on a couch.”
She hasn’t quite worked out how things will go once the baby arrives, but is unfazed: “I will figure things out.”
There’s been a bit of movement in the area recently: Raw has opened a restaurant next to Victoria Hall (the old Rivers store) and there are plans for a pizza bar across the road.
“There’s a lot happening…I’m hoping it will be a hub,” Ms Pember says.
A dining companion attacked a roast beef sandwich ($9.50) with equal gusto, exclaiming at the great wholegrain French mustard.
Jac and the Bean has the look and feel of a trendy cafe, but it won’t be serving standard breakfast and lunches, with its owner keen to provide quality sandwiches for local workers, along with “picnic” packs to go.
“It’s hard to get a good sandwich in Fremantle,” Ms Pember says.
Her sarnies will be made fresh daily from bread sourced from a local organic bakery.
And there’ll be plenty on offer for those wanting to dine in–—just not the usual big breakfast, or chips and pie lunch.
“I have pancakes, and bacon and egg rolls.”
A recent visit found more than that, and I loved my avocado, basil, fetta and cherry tomatoes on a nutty dark rye ($9).
A dining companion attacked a roast beef sandwich ($9.50) with equal gusto, exclaiming at the great wholegrain French mustard.
It had arrived un-toasted and the uber-helpful staff were not only happy to whisk it away for a grilling, they absolutely insisted.
The turkey wrap, with sweet cranberry jam, also scored high.
“I loved the camembert, it shows they go that little extra,” my mate said.
Jac and the Bean also does a good range of fresh juices ($6.60) and smoothies, including mango, one of my favourites, which was wonderfully creamy and the flavour high octane.
Jac and the Bean
177 High Street, Fremantle
9430 7568
open Mon–Sat for breakfast and lunch