Perth Voice Interactive

ART STRATER COFFEE, Perth

by JENNY D’ANGER:

A THOUSAND dollars for breakfast makes a $6 coffee seem almost reasonable.

That said, the high-spending punter at Harvison Gallery/Art Starter Cafe did get a great piece of artwork to go with his brekky.

Owner Mark Walker was pretty stoked when the customer casually ordered at the counter. Handing over plastic to pay, he’d said: “I’ll have a bacon and egg bagel, a cappuccino and N^o 12.”

Anticipating that the combinination of art and food could be a goer, Mr Walker took a punt on a gallery cafe and it’s paying off: interest has been steadily high, from the gallery’s recent first exhibition opening to enquiries and sales from casual drop-ins.

Formerly on Randell Lane in Mt Lawley, Harvison promotes emerging and mid-career artists, with the addition of food an acknowledgement the art world is a tough gig, especially following the global recession.

Like Henri Rousseau’s naive art the food is simple, with a focus on fresh and homemade.

A couple of delicious fresh juices ($5) got things off to a good start, and when it came to food I couldn’t go past the zucchini and corn fritters ($12 or $18 with smoked salmon). I enjoyed one of the most delicious salads I’ve had in a long time, with toasted walnuts adding a flavoursome zing to the great dressing, and the herb yoghurt the fritters came with was fantastic.

The combination of flavours had my mouth feeling like a Jackson Pollock.

Happy to talk customers through the food in the cabinet, the charming Mr Walker could probably sell ice to eskimos and he easily won over my lunch companion with his enthusiasm for the cuban sandwich ($12). The lightly toasted roll was packed with pulled pork, leg ham, Swiss cheese, pickles and mustard, and my mate was his for life.

Mr Walker prides himself on his coffee and my long black ($3.50) was rich and delicious, with never a hint of bitterness, while my mate’s double-shot macchiato was smooth as silk.

Of course we had to have cake, in my case a delicately delicious pear tart and for my mate a syrup-drenched orange and almond cake ($5).

NSW artist Rachel Fairfax is heading west for Harvison Gallery’s second exhibition. Her vibrant collection of paintings and ceramics of the Australian landscape and coastal scenes were inspired by her life by the ocean and her “artist explorations” of the tough Larapinta Trail in the Northern Territory.

The free exhibition is on from October 9, but there’s also a VIP artist talk October 9 for $15.

by JENNY D’ANGER

Art Starter Coffee
195 Brisbane Street, Perth
open Sun-Mon 7am–3pm,
Tues–Thurs until 5pm and
Fri-Sat til 8pm