Last week, a project Kerri and I initiated with Bulldogs’ senior assistant coach Brett Montgomery and his wife, Terri, got under way when the Whitten Oval’s cafe was taken over by us and re-created as Barkers Cafe.
At 11pm last Wednesday, with total disregard for my lofty status as an AFL club president, my wife had me scouring the supermarkets of Melbourne for napkins, lentils and something called “freekeh”. Who knew that freekeh was anything other than a Bontempelli highlights reel?
During the previous days, the room had been renovated, new furniture delivered and … this bit’s important … a new coffee machine was delivered. Some experts have said that what’s really been missing at the Whitten Oval in the past few years is a critical
mass of 120 to 180 game players. These experts have obviously never ordered a coffee from the Whitten Oval.
It would not be inaccurate to say Barkers Café owes its entire existence to the long queue of players, staff, supporters, Vic uni people and club presidents and CEOs who for the past three years have been regularly making their way over to nearby Essex Street for a coffee.
By about midnight on Wednesday, freekeh safely delivered, I sat down with Kerri, Terri and Brett, and our new chefs Marcus and Chris, with some test meals for the first day of trading. I was amazed at Terri’s ability to organise such a quality menu at prices that, on average, are cheaper than those on the previous menu. Marcus has previously been a chef at the famous Dorchester in London so gravitating to the gastronomic mecca of the Whitten Oval is a natural career progression for him.
I’m convening all my power lunches there so you can expect to see me there in the next few weeks with Ross Oakley, Brendan McCartney, Tim Lane and a score of my fellow B-listers.
