Sep 30, 2015 Cafes
Words and photos by Alice Harbourne.
Think of two seemingly disparate words, stick an “&” in between them and you’ve got yourself a cool brand name. Newly rejigged lunch bar Weirdough and Tuck (formerly Scratch Bakers) joins the ranks of Little & Friday, Dry & Tea and Storm & India for whimsical yet subtly informative names.
The folk responsible for Weirdough & Tuck aren’t – from what I can tell – weirdos at all, but the same lovely team behind the Scratch/Three Beans coffee, cafe and wholesale bakery empire, led by Jonny McKessar and Steve Vanderput. When the new bakery headquarters opened on Graham Street in May, the original site at City Works Depot became slightly redundant given the proximity. Both named Scratch, it led to inevitable confusion for friends trying to meet for lunch.
The problem has been elegantly solved – and viewed as an opportunity to maximise the cafe’s space with improved ergonomics – with Weirdough & Tuck, whose main point of difference from the original Scratch is the introduction of a full cafe menu.
I tried three items: a brioche bun filled with slowed-cooked rib eye, piccalilli and provolone; a “long roll” with chicken, gravy and goat’s cheese stuffing and an egg noodle salad with shredded rib eye, cashews and ginger. The brioche bun was my favourite (somewhat inevitably given it was the most indulgent) thanks to chunks of crystallised sugar from the bread’s glaze that provided little bursts of sweet juiciness, complementing the sourness of pickles nicely.
The salad and roll were also good, quality lunch items, and affordable too ($6 for a small salad, $10 for a generously filled roll), making it easy for local workers to return. The jaffles will come into their own on ropier days – how does Welsh rarebit made with Brothers Beer pale ale and bacon sound to your future hungover self? Take a cone of hand-cut fries with that?
It will probably throw some people, but Weirdough will only be serving alternatively brewed coffee, with cold drip single origin with tonic water, Vietnamese pour over with condensed milk, bottomless filter coffee and affogato on offer. Customers are welcome to grab flat whites et al from Three Beans two doors down, though, or cool off with a homemade soda, of which there are four interesting flavours to choose from, such as cola and lavender and beetroot and burnt orange.
Items from the original Scratch Bakers have been relocated to the Three Beans store (all these logistics – it gets confusing) so if you’re after something sweet to finish with, never fear. At this rate, City Works Depot is set to become the ultimate food court.
Weirdough & Tuck
Shed 3F
City Works Depot
77 Cook Street
scratchbakers.co.nz
