A chef with 30 years’ experience in Australia and overseas is bringing a touch of European flair to a hinterland town.
Two Peas Bistro and Cafe, which opened its doors in Maleny on August 9, has already made a significant impact, particularly with its new evening service.
Bronwyn Wood, who co-owns the venue with her partner and head chef Murray Williams, said the aim for Two Peas was to provide classic continental-style dishes.
“We’ve done a little bit of travel around to work out what we wanted to create on the Range and our concept is a little bit French bistro-style with a European flavour,” Ms Wood said.
“It might be sometimes French, sometimes Italian, but we want to create classic dishes.
“It’s not fine dining, it’s meant to be fast and fun bistro food cooked with great ingredients utilising what’s in season, local where we can, and of course fresh.”
Ms Wood said Mr Williams had owned his own restaurants in Mallorca, Spain, Brisbane, Noosa, Sydney and Melbourne, and had also worked for about 15 years as the head chef on superyachts.
“He has a wide area of experience and having worked overseas for so long he wanted to come back home to be near his grandchildren and children,” Ms Wood said.
“He wanted to draw on all his experience and background and create something quite unique that had a predominantly a European flavour.
“The menu reflects lots of classics, dishes that Murray has had passed down from his grandmother.”
The restaurant is in a former bank building on Maleny’s main street, and was previously occupied by the Maple and Sage vegan bakery.
“We’ve been lucky to find the old bank in the main street right opposite the IGA,” Ms Wood said.
“We got a great location and a beautiful building with tons of history and it’s easy for travellers who are in town for the weekend to find us.”
Ms Wood said the space lent itself to the European atmosphere they are trying to cultivate.
“We like to have great music. We think music is an important part of creating a great atmosphere and a great vibe to the place,” she said.
“We have art on the walls actually from a local artist and he paints in a late 19th-century impressionistic style, so that again works in with our slightly French theme.
“We don’t want to call ourselves French in any respect but we want people to feel as though they’re sitting somewhere in your Europe, that continental style.”
Mr Williams and Ms Wood have a team of casuals who work alongside two other full-time staff members: a recently qualified pastry chef and a well-known local barista.
“A lot of the locals follow him because he makes the most incredible coffee and when he found out what we were doing he said ‘can I come and work for you’, which is such a compliment,” Ms Wood said.
“He brings a wonderful energy to the place too.”
Two Peas also has an upstairs function space that can seat up to 24 people, or more people standing, and is fully licensed.
“We think that’s important because there’s maybe one or two other places in town to go to sit down and have a meal and a glass of wine or beer with lunch,” Ms Wood said.
“When you go to Europe it’s very common to sit down with a glass of wine and a little something for lunch and spend half an hour or an hour, then move on and back to work. We’ve found a lot of business people are coming in and doing that, which is great.
“We’re being well supported by the locals and the local businesses, which we’re thrilled about.”
Ms Wood said the bistro had been well received since opening, and had just begun Friday and Saturday nights.
“The feedback has been wonderful, and on Friday and Saturday night we had our first evenings and booked out,” she said.
“It was seething with mainly locals saying ‘this is fantastic’, ‘we haven’t had anywhere like this to go’ and ‘thank you so much’.
“The biggest problem for is finding staff. That’s why so many restaurants up on the Range find it difficult to trade on nights because the staffing is such a difficult area.”
Two Peas is at 13 Maple Street, Maleny. It is open for breakfast and lunch Wednesday to Sunday, and dinner Fridays and Saturdays.
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