Owners of new whole foods eatery Misters, Fraser Jamieson and Alex Brayne. Photo / Amelia Reynolds
The head chef and co-founder of whole foods café Misters, Alex Brayne, says the new Wyndham Street eatery is the end result of finding out he was coeliac three years ago.
When Brayne learned he could not eat dairy and gluten he and fellow foodie, flatmate, and now business partner Fraser Jamieson had to rethink the "extravagant" meals they cooked each night for their fellow housemates.
"All of our repertoire was based on pasta and those go-tos that I think most people have," Brayne says.
"We ended up basically having to throw out what we thought food was."
The friends, who have backgrounds in design and marketing, began to research alternatives to their staple dishes which, Jamieson says, naturally lead them to adopt a whole foods and minimally processed diet.
It was eating out that was issue; which lead the friends, who met at high-school ten years ago, floating around the idea of setting up their own cafe in the Auckland CBD.
"When we started talking to people we realised there was a huge lack of decent food around the area," Brayne says.
"Especially on the convenience side of thing. You can find the odd decent café but most of the time you don't have time to sit down during the week."
Three months on from opening and Jamieson says they seem to be filling that niche. "That's the thing that keeps echoing back - is people saying that it is really nice to have a place that is making decent food and coffee."
The cafe currently serves breakfast and lunch and, amongst other things, the menu features paleo muesli, egg-nets, and grain-free cauliflower tabbouleh.
The pair hope Misters can not only be a welcoming pace for people to escape the bustle of the CBD but also help them to see the benefits of eating a balanced and minimally processed diet.
They say they are committed to buying from local suppliers who they "grill on their methods and techniques" to ensure the integrity of the products they are buying.
The menu will change seasonally because, as Brayne says, "you are not meant to be eating tomatoes in the middle of winter".
And eventually, they aim for everything to be made on site - which isn't an unrealistic goal. The café already serves a range of different house-made nut milks and cold-pressed fresh juices. Then there's the fact that the pair completely refurbished the café themselves - recruiting the help of family and friends along the way of course.
Brayne means it when he says "we built this place with our own hands". The pair spent hours in a friend's garage welding the tables, chairs, and the sign that greets customers outside. The counter top was refurbished from a house Jamieson was helping to renovate.
"It was a huge undertaking. So much bigger than we ever thought."
The day the doors opened to the public though? "That was the best feeling ever," Jamieson says.
Try one of Misters' popular recipes for yourself:
Ingredients
Prawns:
• 1Kg of prawns - try to get quality New Zealand caught Jack Knife prawns or similar
• 2 cloves of garlic, smashed
• 2 inch piece of ginger, sliced
• 1 Tbsp tamari
• ½ Tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil
Noodles:
• 2x jumbo carrots
• 1x large daikon
• 3x zucchini
• A small handful of pink Himalayan Rock Salt
Dressing:
• 1x red chili
• A peeled inch of ginger.
• 2x cloves of garlic, peeled
• 1x bunch of coriander stalks
• 100ml rice wine vinegar
• 25ml tamari
• 25ml fish Sauce
• 75g honey - we use Arataki Rewarewa
• 1x kaffir lime leaf
• 1x Tbsp sesame oil
• 1 Tbsp Rice Bran oil
Garnish:
• 1x bunch of coriander leaves
• 1x small handful of mint leaves
• 6x snow peas
For the prawns:
1. Shell, de-vein and de-tail the prawns if necessary. Make a small incision along the back of the prawn to butterfly.
2. Add all ingredients to a small bowl and leave to marinade while you prepare the rest of the dish.
For the noodles:
1. Peel and top and tail the carrot, daikon and zucchini. Then, using a turning slicer, spiralise in separate batches.
2. Sprinkle the salt over the carrot noodles and leave for at least 30 minutes to soften. Check them every so often until al dente in texture.
3. Using scissors, cut the noodles to a length similar to spaghetti.
4. Once the carrots have softened, place in a colander and run cold water over them to remove the salt. Leave to dry for a moment and then mix the noodles together in a bowl. Set aside.
For the dressing:
1. Place chillies, ginger, garlic and coriander stalks in a food processor and blitz to a paste.
2. Add sesame oil and rice bran oil to a small sauce pan on low heat. Add paste and sweat for a few minutes until fragrant.
3. Add rice wine vinegar, tamari, fish sauce, honey and kaffir lime leaf. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer. Leave to simmer away gently for around 20 minutes.
To Finish:
1. Dress the noodles and tear in coriander and mint leaves. Mix thoroughly. Make a bed of the noodles on each plate.
2. Grill the prawns on high heat for about 30 seconds on each surface. Top the noodles with the prawns.
3. Slice the Snow Peas and sprinkle over the dish.
Get more info on Misters here, or drop by the vegan and paleo friendly cafe at 12 Wyndham Street. To make sure you're on the list for more recipes, sign up to our newsletter. We're also on Facebook and Twitter.