Bernadette Farrugia, Flavours of Lakhoum. Eatery

by ispyclad

We opened the first shop on Swan Street in 1999 , with the intention of being the type of store you would find in a souk. Selling nuts , pulses , wood fired breads and home made deli foods, like Moroccan preserved lemons , cumin infused olives the best dips and a few home wares. We offered coffee Greek, Lebanese and espresso and our beautiful Moroccan mint tea was a hit. Lunch was also provided, offering falafel sandwiches a couple of fresh roll combinations and soups. The point was to make it simple with quality wholesome ingredients .To our surprise thats what 90 percent of our customers came for, Flavours of Lakhoum morphed into Swan street’s new little eatery. Out growing our first shop, we moved up the road about three years later to re-establish the business solely as an eatery. We started both shops from the ground up, designing and decorating them ourselves.

My grandfather owned a couple of restaurants, as did my father’s uncle on his mothers side. Chris’s family had also been in the hospitality business. I learned to cook from my brother, Marcus. I also learned from the mothers of my friends – mainly Greeks, Italians, Lebanese and Maltese. My parents are from Malta and they came out here in 1965. I grew up in the housing commission flats in North Melbourne with my three sisters and one brother. My father did all of the the parenting due to my mothers illness. While we had the shop, he would also come to Flavours on Sunday mornings and sit with other members of our family.

I cooked home-style food. I never tried to make anything fancy. I opened the cafe because I was stuck in uninspired hospitality jobs. I’d always had a passion for fashion, interiors and art, but l struggled with my stutter . Feeling to insecure and frustrated to find jobs outside my comfort zone. I learned to cook and I realised I was good at it and that people enjoyed my food . Flavours was demanding but it was my creation.

I met Chris when I was in my mid-20s. He fell in love with me immediately. We’ve been together for 20 years, but we only got married last year. We had already had two children: Ursula and Nero. Chris is very hard working and taught himself how make a proper coffee. Not only that – but he would make the best coffee in Richmond. And, over the years, he taught himself how to draw faces in the silky milk of the coffees he made. But, the quality of the coffee always remained the same – the faces weren’t just a gimmick to make up for an average coffee.

We had rules about the way we ran the cafe. Whoever was the waiter would always greet every customer as soon as they came in the cafe. We had to make sure that everyone felt welcome ,(that is what l believe hospitality is). If there wasn’t a waiter immediately ready to do so, Chris would always look up and greet people in his quiet and polite manner. He was front of house and l played with the fire in the kitchen.. I was willing to take anyone on to work. But, once they worked at Flavours, they had to be honest and hardworking. That was it. We had to make sure that our staff enjoyed working at the cafe and that the customers we satisfied with the staff.

We had a lot of regular customers. And, of course, we liked this. Some people would come in alone, read a book or a newspaper. They would sit for hours, perhaps just having one or two coffees. Chris would memorise which coffees people would like and he’d get them ready the moment they walked in the door. Sometimes people thought it was strange that we served our long macchiatos in a ceramic cup, but, that’s the way we did it. Some customers were shocked by manner of talking; or rather, shouting. I’d interrupt peoples’ conversations from back in the kitchen. But, that was our style. I guess people considered our style to be typically Mediterranean , but, we did as we pleased. And, of course, people liked this atmosphere.

Chris and I decided to sell Flavours in 2008. We wanted to have a baby and to settle down. I didn’t know it, but by the time we sold the cafe, I was already pregnant. We then went on a long trip to Europe – visiting friends and family in Italy, France, England, Greece and my dream come true was exploring the souks in old Istanbul and spending several silent hours in an historical magnificent domed hamam. We still have a quite a few friends from Flavours . We are often asked , by old customers we see and our friends will we open a new Flavours of Lakhoum.

Written by Bernadette and edited by Andy Fuller, friend and customer.

The images above are of our first shop, Flavours of Lakhoum, in 1999.
The images below include renovations and our relocation to a larger premises, in 2002.