Coffee Club wins cook-off
THE Coffee Club at Central Lakes was awarded for its food in a national competition two weeks ago.
Short order cook Hayley Hartland took out an award at Coffee Club's Culinary Capers Cook-Off, with her fellow kitchen colleague Alex Hutton placing as a finalist.
Business owner Tina Howes said her two employees, who had worked at the Coffee Club since the opening, deserved the recognition.
"They're still here and they're still cooking excellent food so it's nice for them to be recognised," she said.
Ms Howes said she was proud of the way her smaller store competed against the rest.
"There are other stores that are bigger and grander but it's nice that we have the quality food coming out of our store," she said.
The competition ran for a full day in Brisbane and required participants to plate up a number of dishes within a challenging timeframe as well as execute a signature dish.
Other finalists selected out of the 300 Coffee Club stores were from Victoria and Western Australia.
As a competition winner, Ms Hartland won a $1000 travel voucher. Ms Hartland said she was confident of getting her entry through the first submission.
"Our store has quite a high standard for our meals so we knew we'd have no worries of getting through," she said.
Ms Hartland said a modern take on a seafood basket with extra special attention to presentation helped her win the title.
"I just added my own garlic and lime aioli … and I plated it up a little bit different on a wooden chopping board," she said.
As a mother to two young children, Ms Hartland enjoys the security and flexibility of working at the Central Lakes Coffee Club as well as having the chance to express herself in the kitchen.
"The kids can be a bit fussy so you don't always get the opportunity to do anything too fancy at home," she said.
"So it's always good to be trying new things when I'm out or coming up with things at work."
Source: Sunshine Coast Daily, Vicki Wood, 16th December 2015
