Welcome to the Foxy Newsfeed
Friday 26th November 2010
Christmas Trading Hours: Business as usual at Foxy Open Seven Days fro 8am till 5pm (kitchen closes at 4pm) - but we're closing for a few days for a well deserved break from Friday 24th December and returning Tuesday 11the January...
What's Hot at Foxy?
Well... we are, apparently - having received a spate of positive publicity, as mentioned on the home page
Also, we do not rest on our laurels, as we're constantly revising and refining what we do - so the food menu has had a few tweeks recently, in include a few more savoury items, to make it more 'lunch like' - and items such as the Foxy Fritters, which features gluten free zucchini fritters, served on a bed of avocado mash, served with a poached egg, and a side of feta optional = have been a smash hit
Also, we say a sad farewell to Head Chef Sophie, as she branches further abroad, and welcome back to Daniella - who is back in the kitchen and back from her tarvels
And of course we're constantly sourcing seasonally available fresh produce for our coffees, and to this extend our "Foxy Espresso Blend" has recently been modded to include some Sumatran Mandheling, Honduras Finca Santa Marta, Columbian Aesoeni, and PNG Okapa
And the old favourite Honduras / PNG combination has been revamped of recent times, with new materials being sourced from new (to us) estates, and re-braned as our "Sweet Maria's Blend" - back, you could say, by popular demand
But the thing I'm most excited about at the moment is our Filter Coffee, made on the Clever Coffee Dripper - we've created a purpose built work station to house the apparatus and al the associated paraphernalia, and I've ordered a truck load of exotic coffees from around the world, which I'm roasting myself very selectively for this unique application
And whilst I admit that Filter Coffee is not for everyone - there are some jaded palates out there who profess that espresso is the Chardonnay of the coffee world, and they're after a more subtle and refined taste experience, which showcases the terroir of the individual estate grown and single origin coffees - and its all about the Indian Monsoon Malabar for me at the moment, which to me at least tastes like a blend between a young Pinot Meunier, and an aged Arneis...
But then again I'm apt to wax lyrical and not adverse to a little purple prose when it comes to describing coffees - a throwback to my days as a sommelier perhaps?
After a bit of a mid winter lull business is booming (on weekends at least) - and I'm looking forward to a substantial break at the end of the year with my family, and I've been consulting for a new cafe development in Byron Bay - and I'm heading up there for opening celebrations next week!
Friday 28th May 2010
Just finished my roundup of Melbourne's top five coffee destinations out of a shortlist of thirteen cafes for Crema Magazine- most of which have been crammed into the last few days! A team of four respected judges from industry including my goodly self have been out and about, and covering quite a lot of ground (and grind!) recently in search of the illusive perfect cuppa? Does it actually exist? ANd who am I to say what makes a good cup? Well... ten years spent working as a Sommelier in some of the countries finest restaurants does help to refine the palate somewhat! Still... there are any number of variables involved including how hung over the barista is (or is not) on the day that they made your coffee - which is why we have a team of four judges to make independent assessments, and then we correlate the results - cant say fairer than that really!
Always good to drink a lot of water when you're tasting coffee, and whilst its not usually acceptable to spit your coffee out (unless its generic, over-roasted, over-heated, and past its use-by date) in the public arena (cupping not included) - taking only a couple of sips is sometimes all that's required to get a good feel for the product - that and going to town with your nose to dig up all those tasty and exotic aromas!
Having said that if the coffee's any good I cant help but drink it - no matter how many I've had: which saw me consuming the good part of fifteen coffees one day, and then ten the next!
Definitely not for the faint hearted!
Still nice to see what's on offer out there, and how far we've come in a relatively short period of time. Also good to see some new players taking it to the more established cafe au courant
Don't expect me to give the results away here (you'll have to buy the winter edition of the mag to find them out) - but broadly speaking and based upon my own observations only - those establishments which tended to excel in their field, with reference to the quality of the coffee only, almost universally were owner operated, with the owner of the cafe either pulling shots and / or in close proximity to those who were - so that they could monitor quality control as the coffees went out. Much in the same way that an executive chef will man the pass and inspect each meal before it leaves the kitchen...
Speciality coffee being small batch micro-lots, also seem to be the order of the day, and having a host of freshly roasted Single Origin and Single Estate coffees to choose from, is becoming more and more common
As are alternate preparation methods such as filter coffee, ceramic pour-over, syphon coffee, and cold filter - just to name a ffew
Which is pretty impressive really when you consider that each of these applications usually requires a specific roast profile ideally targeted to each application, and a grind point to suit...
All in all great to get out and about and to see and taste some of the best coffee that Melbourne has to offer, and to feel that we at Foxy are also in the mix when it comes to serving great coffee made with careful preparation, and by offering a changing selection of around a dz different speciality coffees as well
So next time you're in the store - why not ask about the Single Estate coffees that we have on hand, as there's usually six or more on offer (depending upon ageing and readiness for drinking) - and I'll be more than happy to wax lyrical about their individual flavour profiles!
Wednesday 28th April 2010
Well... the kids at Foxy have been at it again! We've had a few rave reviews since I wrote last - which is always a plus for business, and the talked about changes to the menu have finally taken place - its not so much a new menu as a revised one. We also say farewell to head chef Daniela, and welcome to Sophie, who will be stepping up to fill the role
Of course it wouldn't be Foxy if we hadn't been fooling with the coffee, as per usual we're mad keen on sourcing the latest shipments of the latest offerings of green beans, so that our espresso blend especially is always topical and 'in season'
So we've just recently released espresso blend mark four - and we think we've got it right this time - to the usual PNG Okapa base component we've added some El Salvador El San Molino and some Colombian Cafe Equidad - and we think its terrific!
And judging by the feedback from many of our customers, we're not the only ones!
Autumn is well and truly upon us which means perfect weather for sipping coffee and enjoying a slice of cake in the afternoons - and in this arena Foxy does not disappoint! We've been busy in the kitchen refining our cake and muffin recipes, as ever with a heavy reliance upon organic and gluten free ingredients - as that's our stated preference - and cake and muffin sales have increased exponentially
Also been playing around with the presets on the BFC Synchro (which is something I'm usually reluctant to do as I prefer to 'free pour') - and I'm actually happy with the results! So now instead of manually stop/starting each extraction and water flush between extractions, we have actual programmed buttons to do the jobbie for us! Doesn't sound like much but when you're cranking out 300 plus coffees on a Sunday afternoon, it makes the barista's job much easier (and more enjoyable) - also improves consistency across the board - which I'm naturally very happy about
We 'modded' our Robur to recently. The Mazzer Robur is arguably the world's finest coffee grinding machine, but, dammit, they don't half throw coffee everywhere except into the basket when you are working, which is both VERY annoying, and VERY wasteful - and lets face it, when you are paying top dollar for a premium product it aint half a shame to see all those grinds going down the drain!
So we pulled some plans off the net and inserted a spout into the dosing chamber - which now guides the grinds right into the basket - which lets face it is where they ought to go!
This little innovation too saves time and money but clogs the grinder if you dose for more than one coffee at a time - which is just fine by me coz I always prefer to dose to order!
We've also started selling some coffee merchandise - tamper mats and stands / and a few tampers and such - its no major innovation just one more way of supporting the local and home barista community!
And a few changes on the floor are always good to shake things up once in awhile – so we say goodbye to some of the old and faithful who have moved on, and welcome some fresh blood and renewed vigor – bring it on I say!
Friday 19th February 2010
Well... its been a big month for us at the Fox - experimenting with some new single origins from Honduras, Colombia, and El Salvador and fine tuning our espresso blend based upon seasonally available ingredients - loving working with freshly available green beans and enjoying the crema which has been gushing out of them!
Kitchen has been powering ahead to and we're starting to produce steady numbers during the week, combined with stella weekends
We invented an organic flourless chocolate slice today which compliments the flavour profile of the espresso blend , with yummy toasted walnut, dark chocolate and citrus flavours (not that these are necessarily the ingredients, mind, just how it tastes to me) - I kid you not - and who says that the term 'Coffee Sommelier' is dead!
We've also been refining and testing out the menu, ready for our next instalment - and I'm looking forward to the new direction that the menu is taking - not a radical departure from where we're at, but incorporating some more luncheon items, and looking at how we can incorporate our alkalising greens philosophy more into what we're doing - freshening up the palate and the plate!
This week also sees us welcome on board Julia Debski - our new star recruit - who will be making her presence known both behind the machine and on the floor
Julia and I worked together at Melbourne Uni for four years and she co-managed my venue there for me - so she's survived the baptism by fire and she knows what I'm about
Her presence also means that we in theory at least have a solid floor team throughout the week so I expect service to run like clockwork - and if it doesn't: look out!
We hope you will notice and appreciate the changes and your feedback is welcome
When's the new menu arriving? Dunno? How long is a piece of string!
Monday 25th January 2010
Well... we've had our biggest weekend ever which is just as well as its time to pay some bills! Anyway it feels great to be so busy and its interesting when folks say: did you think you would be so busy? and they get a surprise when I say yes I planned to be this busy! I know it sounds a bit arrogant but really we need to step up and take it to the next level across the board to justify our investment in the business and our not inconsiderable set-up costs
So the next question would be if I planned for the joint to be jumping then why didn't we have more staff on? Well...what's the saying again? God hears our plans and laughs? Its one thing to plan to be busy and another thing entirely for that to actually happen - and it depends upon so many extraneous factors - we had the same number of staff on as last weekend and we coped just fine - bearing in mind that it was a lot hotter then and less folks on the street. I also think that more families are back from their holidays now and getting ready for the kids to go back to school
And I'm sorry I just can't and wont rush to make a crap coffee - my conscience wouldn't let me sleep at night if I did that - but that doesn't make a 20 minute wait for coffees acceptable either - but be assured next weekend we'll have more staff on and two behind the machine to crank the coffees out faster
Because we use tripple sized baskets and a double ristretto as the base for our coffees it means that we can really only construct a couple of coffees at a time, and the biodynamic milk that we use tastes great but doesn't hold together as well as conventional milk once heated so we have to make each coffee to order - which is not a problem when there are two of us on the machine but its a big ask for one
So apologies to those who waited for their coffees - I hope you enjoyed them when they came - and well endeavour to get the ball rolling a bit quicker in the future!
Saturday 23rd January 2010
Can a month have gone by already? Apparently so!
A lot has happened at Foxy in the last month:
We've finished our banquette seating in the front section of the cafe in a lovely maroon colour complemented by a kind of psychedelic bright orange and yellow sunflower inspired centre piece that needs to be seen to be believed!
This colour scheme has been repeated for our bench seating along the side window to great dramatic effect
We've also hired a new apprentice trainee called Iris and we'd like you to give her a warm Foxy welcome and to make her feel welcome!
Iris will be working mostly front of house but will be spending time in the kitchen as well so that she is cross skilled and multi talented!
And we've been experimenting with our coffee blend and introducing a couple of new single origin and single estate coffees to our stable including a Honduras SHB SHG and a Colombian Cafe Equidad
And as the Nicaraguan component of our espresso blend is on back order we've substituted it for a El Salvador El San Molino washed arabica Orange Bourbon to great and dramatic effect
This outstanding bean offers orange marmalade on the nose combined with raisin toast and strawberry jam flavours on the palate combined with a zesty orange blossom zing!
We're also looking to commence trading seven days as of February 2010 - so watch this space!
Saturday 12 December 2009
'New' eight seater table from the Salvo's in Abbotsford and ten new chairs arrive today primarily for our back room - we're expanding to meet growing demand - how I managed to fit them all in the back of my Subi I don't know!
Saturday 12 December 2009
Ten things you probably didn't know about us!
1. We have aircon! Well... enviro- firendly evaporative cooling - so we stay cool at Foxy all summer long!
2. We're mostly organic and FairTrade, as well as free range and biodynamic wherever possible. I wouldn't want to put a figure on it but I would say that we are well in excess 90 per cent of our produce is sourced from sustainable and renewable sources that are both local and chemical,herbicide, pesticide, growth hormone, and artificial flavouring and colouring free!
3. We recycle our vege scraps into compost at a local farming community
4. We have free wireless networking available to our customers
5. Our coffee is unique to Foxy have been created in a partnership between ourselves and master roaster Joshua Bailey - and it's FairTrade certified organic as well as being high altitude and shade grown - which its naturally lower in caffeine and acidity
6. We use massive 20gm (triple sized) baskets for every single one of our coffees which is 3 x industry standard of 7gm!
7. Why? Because even though you end up with the same amount of coffee AND caffeine in the cup due to our shots being based upon a double ristretto - what you also get is masses of added flavour and added body and texture - at no extra cost to the customer
8. Recycle materials have been used wherever possible in the construction process of the cafe which is both good for the environment and a boon for local op shops which have been very well frequented by the Foxy crew!
9. We're in the process of applying for a liquor license - watch this space!
10. We use biodynamic DEMTER certified milk at Foxy not because its the most expensive milk on the market (it is but lets not go there) but because we believe that its the best product to be served with coffee due to its rich and natural creaminess AND happy cows = happy customers!