Sorrentos Café Mount Gambier has received a national honour, being awarded the Australian Good Food Guide (AGFG) Reader’s Choice Award.
Sorrentos Café owner Amanda Hudson said she was humbled and surprised when Sorrentos received the award because she was unaware they were nominated.
“When you are not expecting something and it just happens, it does make everything worthwhile,” Ms Hudson said.
Ms Hudson said Sorrentos Café offered gourmet food options in the heart of the city and the team was passionate about keeping their produce as local as possible.
The menu is full of modern Australian dishes with something for everyone and the bar is stocked with Coonawarra and Mount Gambier wines.
When Ms Hudson took over ownership, she gave head chef Chris Eykelenburg full reign of the kitchen and he was determined to bring the food back to its former glory.
“Since Amanda took over, food was one of our first priorities in bringing it back to what Sorrentos was known for,” Mr Eykelenburg said.
“Also, with the amount of competition that is in town now it is very important to stand at the same level as everyone else, getting rid of all the processed foods that a lot of places use so going back to making everything from scratch, from our sauces to everything and that was really important for us.”
The Good Food Guide deemed the Surf and Turf as the Sorrentos Café stand-out dish, which consists of a black angus eye fillet served over crispy garlic potatoes and topped with garlic prawns.
Mr Eykelenburg has worked at Sorrentos since 2010 and said he saw the progression of the food over the years.
“COVID did have a lot to do with it because there were staff costs and food prep time, so it lost its roots by getting in processed items,” he said.
“I think there was not enough drive to bring it back to where it needed to be.
“We have gone to getting back to the roots of food from scratch, but we have not gone the route of making things over-garnished and over-done.
“We have tried to keep a happy medium between simplicity and making it nice and gourmet, not too fancy.
“Having a local butcher instead of getting it shipped in from Adelaide also helped a lot, so supporting as much local business as we can and keeping everything Australian if we cannot get it locally.
“I have cut out anything that is brought in from overseas.
“It is more expensive, but at the end of the day the food speaks for itself and the customer satisfaction.”
Mr Eykelenburg said he worked with an amazing and hard-working kitchen team who put in lots of effort and commitment.
“I have got two sous chefs who are very passionate and keep the standards when I am not here, which is also important because you want customers to come in and whatever they order, it does not matter who makes it, it is always the same,” he said.
Ms Hudson said it was clear the apprentices worked hard with the desire to be good chefs and said it was amazing what Mr Eykelenburg had done with the kitchen.
“The award really is for Chris I think and the kitchen and the way it is run, the team in the kitchen and our apprentices are absolutely amazing and they work so hard,” Ms Hudson said.
Mr Eykelenburg said the award was an acknowledgement the hard work had not only paid off, but also been recognised.
“Having customers come through the door and having happy customers, that is a lot of validation to say what we are doing is working, what we are doing is the right thing,” he said.
“Having an award means that we are standing out about everyone else and we are putting our mark on the town.
“Now there is new ownership, new leadership and a new team here, just having our mark on it and making it so that everyone knows it is not the same Sorrentos anymore, but you have still got that atmosphere that everyone loved.”
