Third Avenue Cafe

Fresh, genuine and quality

Fresh, fresh, fresh, authentic, genuine, and variety are the words that came to mind when dining at Third Avenue Café and Pizzeria in Mount Lawley. Nestled in the Beaufort Square shopping centre on the corner of Third Avenue and Beaufort Street, this is no ordinary café.

Café owner and head chef Anthony McLernon, well known in hospitality in Perth, has been a chef for 14 years with a wealth of experience in hotels and genuine Italian restaurants behind him. Anthony and his partner Elyssa Wherrett, who is the café manager, and have been at Third Ave for the past two and a half years.

Elyssa and Anthony met about five years ago while Elyssa was studying politics at university and waitressing where Anthony was working as a chef at the time. Elyssa has gone from waitress and uni student to a career in politics and back to hospitality and is loving it.

After being welcomed and seated by Elyssa, we started off with an entrée of Crispy Fried Sea Salt Prawns, served with mint, coriander, fried shallots and served with a lime and ginger mayonnaise which brought it together deliciously.

Another delicious entrée was the grilled Cajun spiced chicken served with avocado, mango, coriander, haloumi cheese and saffron rouille. The sweetness of the mango was a delightful contrast to the sharpness of the Cajun spices with the haloumi cheese giving a salty clean finish.

We just had to try one of the wood fired pizzas on the menu and the one we tasted was the Shaw River Mozzarella pizza. The Shaw River Buffalo Cheese Dairy is Australia's only producer of mozzarella made the Italian way. With the home made base of fresh tomatoes topped with bocconcini, prosciuto, mushroom, onion and basil, less was definitely more without too many different ingredients competing with one another.

With a variety of toppings, wood fired pizzas are a popular choice at Third Avenue, both as a take away meal and as a dining in choice. In fact Third Avenue Café is one of the very few cafes where everything on the menu is also available as a take away meal.

While the café is currently totally BYO, plans are underway to incorporate a liquor license. Once licensed Anthony and Elyssa intend to keep the BYO option so that diners will have the choice to bring their own drinks if they so wish. There is also a liquor shop just a few metres away.

We chose a Montana Sauvignon Blanc, a well-balanced white wine, which complemented the dishes nicely.

Another of Anthony’s creations I would recommend is the house-made Gnocchi with smoked wagyu, local asparagus, cherry tomatoes, chilli and basil. The gnocchi was smooth and creamy, and this recipe literally melted in my mouth.

Wagyu beef has become popular due to its high degree of marbling adding an amazing depth of flavour, making it a culinary delicacy. The intramuscular fat helps the beef stay moist during cooking, resulting in a more succulent, flavoursome meat. The health-conscious will be happy to know that wagyu meat contains more monounsaturated fat than most other meats, making it a suitable part of a lower-cholesterol diet.

Everything on the menu at Third Ave Café is made from local produce and another delightful dish that did not disappoint was the Amelia Park Lamb Rump served with roasted royal blue potatoes, pepperonata and red wine sauce.

We wondered how it was with partners working together, so we asked the couple what the secret was to working harmoniously and successfully. Both agreed that it is not difficult to do but say that it is essential to maintain very clear boundaries. "Anthony is in the kitchen and I am front of house," said Elyssa, with Anthony adding, "we are pretty good at reading each other’s signs."

While Elyssa said Anthony is a relaxed chef, Anthony smiled and said he is usually quite calm but does need to stay very focused while in the kitchen and remain in control of proceedings with customer service being the priority.

As with any experienced chef who knows his way around a kitchen, Anthony’s food was tasty and well seasoned, and I would suggest you taste the food before you add any seasoning. May I say to the die hard habitual salt adders - taste it first! Anthony says, "I like well seasoned food, there is nothing worse than bland food."

I always think you can tell by the away the food tastes if someone is passionate about cooking (it seems to come through in the finished product) and passionate about cooking Anthony is. Elyssa says that although she cooks sometimes at home she is spoilt because Anthony loves cooking and also likes to cook at home. "He never tires of cooking," she said. While Anthony is humble about his culinary skills, he emphasises that the food at Third Avenue is fresh, seasonal produce mixed with variety and consistency, which he continually strives to provide.

With seating for ninety in winter, an additional thirty can be seated in summer in the alfresco area. Third Avenue Café is open Tuesday to Friday for lunch and dinner, Saturdays for dinner only and Sundays exclusively for private functions, lunch and dinner.

For dessert check the board for mouth-watering specials. We can recommend the house made pavlova, a pavlova with substance - slightly crunchy on the outside, a little chewy on the inside with plenty of (you guessed it) fresh cream and fresh local fruits - cherries and strawberries this time.

Don’t feel like cooking? Whether you feel like a night out or a relaxing night in it matters not as Third Avenue Café is at your service. With the take away service you can even take your favourite restaurant meal home with you and have the same good quality in the comfort of your own home. Or perhaps when Friday night rolls around again you might just like to unwind over a cold beer and a tasty wood-fired pizza. Go on - try it.

by Ingrid Rickersey