Bao dogs and burgers, a coffee on the morning walk or at childcare drop-off and even "slushy of the day" are now available at a new cafe deep in the suburb of Wanniassa.
Thomas and Larah Heinrich opened Grill by Canberra Gourmet on Sternberg Crescent yesterday - the day after their other venture, Table by Canberra Gourmet, picked up two hats in the Australian Good Food Guide awards.
Table started at the same Wanniassa location that now houses Grill. There are plans to re-open Table at The Truffle Farm at Majura in March.
In the meantime, the new venture was all about casual South East Asian cuisine - offering good food in the suburbs.
Grill is in the building at 65 Sternberg Crescent, which includes the Kidstart childcare centre and the Two Sheds woodworking workshop. For the local neighbourhood, its a true walk-to option, with nothing else in between the main Wanniassa and Erindale centres.
"I was just sick of all the fried takeaway and Maccas," Thomas said.
"We just want to offer southside something different and looking at the influences of my own family, my wife is Filipino. She wanted to do something between a cafe and a coffee shop where it's comfortable to sit down and enjoy your food but it's not plated or anything. It's takeaway food. You can sit down and there's music and a nice atmosphere."
Grill will be open Tuesday to Saturday from 8am to 7.30pm. Being next to a childcare centre where parents drop off their children in the morning, coffee was a must, provided by Seven Miles Coffee Roasters.
"The parents have always wanted coffee here," Thomas said.
And the breakie baos will hopefully entice in the passing tradies in the morning, bacon, sausage, egg or a French toast variety. The bao dogs will use a Filipino sausage.
"I've always wanted to baos ever since I travelled to Taiwan and had my first one many, many years ago," he said.
The menu also includes noodles, rice and grilled pork belly, fish, chicken and prawns. And a slushy of the day - but think calamansi rather than the craziness of red cordial.
"The barbecued pork is the same pork I use at Table, almost exactly the same recipe, and it's always been very well-received over there and it's always been something I like to do," he said.
Thomas has a young team at Grill including a Filipino chef from Dubai and is looking to recruit more staff to re-open Table.
The two chef hats for Table, meanwhile, was a nice pat on the back in what had been a hectic week opening Grill, so much so he'd almost lost his voice.
"It's very nice to be recognised for what we do over there," he said.
