Enjoy some family favourites

SALTBUSH Fine Foods in Queenscliff is a place to sit down, relax and enjoy some family favourites.

Owner and operator Jade has worked in hospitality for more than 20 years and her passion is home-cooked food.

“I’ve always been a manager in hospitality, and always wanted my own ideas out there, but obviously that’s hard when it’s not your business,” she said.

“My kids for years have always said ‘Why don’t you own your own shop, Mum?’ and that’s why I did it.

“I just jumped into it, just to showcase my own cooking.”

She said Saltbush Fine Foods was especially known for its bread.

“I’ve cooked that for years. I was a bit reluctant to bring that in here because I was a bit nervous, but it’s actually done really well.

“That’s probably the biggest thing that I want people to taste – just home cooking is what I do.

“We’re not a fancy restaurant, we’re just a relaxed cafe, and that’s what I’ve always wanted.

“I’ve always wanted somewhere for families to come. Being a young family, it’s always hard to find that relaxing place, and that’s what I want it to be.”

Jade’s daughters Tayla and Emma also sometimes work in the business.

“As a family, we’ve travelled around Australia and we’ve taken ideas from where we’ve been; we just want a family atmosphere,” Jade said.

Saltbush Fine Foods also has a “Wall of Dogs” in a prominent position for customers to admire.

“We’re just mad about dogs; we’ve got two dogs at the moment,” Jade said.

“We love dogs and they’ve also always travelled with us.

“In a perfect world, I’d love to have a cafe that dogs could come into, but that’s not allowed, so the next best thing was to have photos of the dogs that come to the cafe on the wall, so that’s how we’ve brought dogs inside.

“It was a promise to the girls – if we ever had our own place, that’s what we

would do.”

The cafe features plenty of outdoor space for dogs, with shade, blankets and water.

There’s also loads of parking for bikes, so cyclists are very welcome.

Saltbush Fine Foods is at Shop 3&4, 44 Hesse Street, Queenscliff.