Serendipity has brought Sandy Cenin back to the little café in Prospect where he used to watch through the window as old Greek men drank coffee and played cards.
“It was strictly coffee; it was coffee, cards and cigarettes and probably some ouzo, though we weren’t supposed to know about that,” Cenin tells InDaily.
“I just used to walk past and think, ‘When I’m in my 50s, that’s how I want to be spending my days’, and now I’m here in a café.”
The Churchill Road café, now called Minestra, is the result of Cenin’s passion for food and a lifestyle change.
“It is about finding a really happy place for me in the community and being able to feed people, which makes me smile every day.”
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Minestra is named after Cenin’s favourite dish, which is essentially “greens and beans”.
“I’ve always loved greens. Brussels sprouts were my favourite when I was little.
“The food is inspired largely by my grandmother, who is Calabrian, and she had a fairly common poor Calabrian upbringing where the two staples are the polpette [meatballs] and the minestra fagioli [beans and greens].”
Cenin’s grandmother’s influence has gone beyond the simple Italian recipes, which include a range of vegan and vegetarian food. He has also taken on the traditional Italian way of trading food, with much of the fruit, herbs and vegetables used on the menu sourced from local backyard gardens.
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“My grandparents weren’t very keen on gardening, but like many southern Italian families, they had their networks and my grandmother made pasta, so she’d give families pasta and they’d give her fruit and veg.”
Although he’s offering market rates for produce, so far the customers supplying it have refused, instead taking lunch or coffee and cake as payment.
"“There are a few vegetables, when they come in season and I see them, I get emotional.”"
Minestra has been joined by other cafes such as Zedz Café in the Central Market and Café Troppo in using customers’ produce in-store. Finding a place for the whole range of backyard produce can be a challenge, but Cenin has yet to be stumped.
“The strangest thing was loofah squash. Loofah that you use to exfoliate – it can come from like a seaweed or a sea vegetable, or there are land-based ones like melons, which grow long. They get woody and you dry them out and use them as a loofah.
“When you pick them young, they are like long white zucchini. I had a taste and I thought it would be perfect for the pepperonata.”
If you do decide to bring in some of your home-grown vegies, don’t be surprised by Cenin’s passion.
“There are a few vegetables, when they come in season and I see them, I get emotional. “When people walk in with a basket full of green stuff, pomegranates, quinces, I get a little bit carried away. You are either going to walk 10 feet away from me or think, ‘This is lovely’.”
Regardless of your own reaction, the mix of simple Italian recipes and fresh backyard produce is sure to get anyone emotional.
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