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La Botiga Mapleton, Queensland
Firstly, Mapleton is one of the villages of the Sunshine Coast Hinterland, quite small, but really well served with places to eat. One of these places has gained an amazing reputation since it opened in mid 2009 – La Botiga.
What is so special about it is that the food is all cooked on site, and that the menu has some standard things, and others just appear. Mind you, some of the flavours of the standard things change all the time. So, to the food – that is what La Botiga is all about. I like muffins, and here I have had the best ever. First thing in the morning when you get a muffin still warm from the oven with pear, ginger and white chocolate you know you are eating something to write about!
Then there is the coffee, what can I say. I have actually talked to a foodie TV film crew who think that La Botiga’s coffee was just about the best they had tasted in anywhere Australia during their four years on the food trail.
The café is the brain child of a very clever person called Rebecca, and the food ideas just sort of happen with her at the helm. She is not always there, but her crew has all been trained to produce her menu to the same high standard. You can see food coming out of the little kitchen all the time. She also has a superb range of cheese – specialising in Italian styles.
It is not your normal sort of café, with outside seating and bright umbrellas, because it has become a success completely by accident. The original idea was to create a take away business only, so the ‘shop’ was kitted out with a nice serving area and a couple of huge fridges where the pre-made meals would be displayed. What happened was quite simple, all of the customers wanted the food, but some wanted to eat in. So within a very short space of time a couple of tables appeared, then more, and more. Now there is no room for any more.
You can still take food away, and it is a really good idea for those lazy nights when you just want something small but superb. But most of the time it is eat in and enjoy the ambience. The walls are covered with a superb range of pastas, biscuits, oils, rosewater, a whole load of things to jazz up your food.
If you want something to read, the papers are put on the table first thing in the morning and well read by the end of the day. If you want a magazine they are pegged up for you to choose from.
La Botiga is one of those places where your first problem is deciding what to eat, and your second is finding the time to come back again for something else that took your fancy!
La Botiga
Obi Obi Road
Mapleton Qld 4560
Review by Alison Huth posted October 2100
Venue visited 9th October 2011 (and at least once a week when I am in town!)
Photographs by Alison Huth
