Mystery Soup
The Steampunk themed cafe, on the beachfront at Ōamaru’s Friendly Bay, will be serving Soup of the Day, and you will just have to get what you’re given. But one certainty is you will get it with toasted ciabatta fresh from the Waimate Bakery.
Cafe owner Debbie Orr likes to “change it up” most days, and every soup at The Galley is super.
“So quite often we do vegetable, sometimes pumpkin . . . just whatever’s in season that we can get our hands on,” she says.
Debbie sources a lot of her vegetables from local growers Mean Greens, and also heads to the Farmers’ Market every Sunday for any extras.
“I guess that's the beauty of the Waitaki, is that there is so much available locally . . . we try and use local stuff when we can.”
Even the coffee is from Grid, a small roastery in Dunedin.
Soups are often vegetarian and/or dairy free to accommodate different dietary requirements.
Debbie has worked at The Galley for five years, and owned it for three.
“I've worked pretty hard to get my own business,” she says.
“What's the difference between actually owning it and working at it? Um, I don't know. I'm always that person that gives 100% to any job I've ever had, so, I guess there's not too much difference, apart from sometimes there's a wee bit of stress on the bottom line.”
The Galley’s location right on the beach, is one of its unique qualities.
“People can come here and sit in the window and read a magazine and have a coffee and watch the world go by without being, you know, feel like people are looking at them and stuff like that.”
A less obvious quality, but just as important, is the team which works there.
“I have a really good team of staff, who are all local people. Without staff you're nothing, eh? You can't do it all by yourself.”
Debbie is one of three chefs at The Galley, who “pretty much” make all of the baking and other food fresh everyday, except the Waimate Bakery bread.
“My great grandmother and my mother were really good cooks, and they probably gave me that inspiration. I always wanted to be a chef, like right from when I left school when I was 16, and that's all I ever wanted to do.”