Food NZ

Café Villagio …

SISTER ANN REVIEWS Friend Bee is back in her home town from LA for a month or so. We went to a wee café set in a gorgeous Deco house, in the residential streets of Gisborne. The inside is polished floors, white walls  and white plastic chairs. Lovely and bright, with red/orange trim. When the manager asked if we’d like a menu, I said ‘yes’ …but we expected it to arrive at the table. We ordered a flat white and I said I’d like a tea. The woman ran through a list of teas without asking me what I might like first. Obviously she (mistakenly) thought I’d rather listen to her ramble through her list (...yawn). When she finished, I asked if she had Bell tea, (What!? I like Bell. Bite me) whereupon she proceeded to tell me that English breakfast was similar to Bell. Que!? Excuse me! Do not patronize the customer. Is that Rule one? Ok Rule 1; The customer is always right. Rule 2; Do.NOT.Patronise.The.Customer! So I said English Breakfast would be lovely…please would you give me a pot for 2 with one teabag…saying I like weak tea.

The tea arrived alone 5 minutes before the coffee….with 2 teabags and in a pot for 2- half filled. While returning the pot to the counter Bee thought the menu may have been forgotten. Another customer pointed out a basket of menus off to the side in the middle of nowhere… on the way to nowhere… nowhere near the counter. Terrific! My psychic powers were tested once more and once more I came out with a 50/50 average. Chris does that mean I need psychic tuning?  We had a 15 min wait for the food…pretty routine and at least this time the plates nearly came at the same time. Bee had toast and jams and it was gorgeous …but hey it is toast right? I had an omelette au fromage with onion, mozzarella and mushroom. It was average… a little rubbery but definitely satisfying, but I have been spoilt by Mum’s French Omelettes and I do prefer them.

MUM JUNE’S FRENCH OMELETTE; Stiffly beat the egg whites on their own. In a 2^nd bowl, stir 1 tablespoon of water into each egg yolk. Combine mixtures together gently. Pour into pan. Sprinkle of pepper and salt.

ATMOSPHERE 6 FOOD 6 SERVICE 4