Netty started cooking with her grandmother when she was seven years old, so it's a passion close to her heart. Her school Home Ec teacher influenced her decision to follow her love for cooking into a career and her hard work and ample experience working with knives, thanks to her childhood growing up around shearing sheds in Queensland's outback, put her straight into a 3rd-year apprenticeship at her local roadhouse.
After years of working as a chef, surgery on her brain left her blind for two years, but once she regained her sight she dived straight back into her passion for cooking and took over the cafe located in Glebe Gardens, Launceston. Netty turned the small grab-and-go cafe into a popular restaurant where everything you eat is homemade, with a gazebo, fireplace, enclosed area (it can get cold down there in Tassie), live music and easy access to Glebe Gardens.
I don't. I do most of the cooking, and everything is home-made, so I have to bring it home with me. We used to hire a separate kitchen space, but when we had to move it we couldn't find anything suitable, so everything is cooked at home now.
Spending time with my 23-year-old grandson, who lives with me, and my new kitten.
There are a group of elderly, widowed ladies who are war veterans and often come to the cafe. They are always telling jokes and stories about the old days and how they used to drive tanks and ambulances like the men, and their time overseas. It's so interesting to listen to the stories of their lives.
Some people think that you're their slave because you work in the cafe. Also during and post Covid many people weren't and still don't book tables for large numbers and show up expecting to be able to be accommodated.
You have to be passionate about what you're doing and love cooking. You also always need to be nice and make your customers happy because not everyone is having a good day.
Home cooking. I used to be a chef, but I was blind for a couple of years after having brain surgery and couldn't cook, so when I got my sight back I wanted to do what I loved again. We also allow animals, so we get lots of dogs coming in as well.
Some of the things the elderly ladies used to get up to during the war, things you can't even imagine, are great stories to hear about. It's a lovely little community.