LAKES COAST VISITOR GUIDE | PAGE 79 LAKES ENTRANCE At the Bush Café , in Kalimna West, you'll discover a special place, where local Indigenous culture and welcoming hospitality combine with delicious food, featuring distinctive Indigenous 'bush tucker' flavours. Located at the Gunaikurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation (GLaWAC) Centre – just a 10-minute drive north-west from Lakes Entrance, along the Princes Highway – the Bush Café initially started out as a kiosk for students at the site's Forestec campus. Indigenous flavours Since then, the café has grown in popularity, and its head chef, Kevin Murray, has hopes to expand the café with the addition of a full-sized commercial kitchen. A proud Gunaikurnai man, Kevin has been running the café for the past four years. Before taking on the Bush Café , he ran the popular Snowy River Café in Orbost. He has recently updated the cafe's menu to include more indigenous spices and dishes, including dishes such as as kangaroo lasagne, and salt-and-pepper squid with lemon myrtle aioli. Sharing knowledge Kevin has a passion for sourcing fresh and seasonal local produce and spices, and he is always more than happy to offer advice to those who are interested in cooking Indigenous dishes at home. "For me, it's like a sharing of knowledge," Kevin said. The recent announcement of a three-year trial to farm Sydney rock oysters in the Gippsland Lakes – thanks to an aquaculture partnership between GLaWAC and the Victorian Fisheries Authority – has given Kevin, a fresh-seafood lover, even more reason to be excited about the future of Gippsland's already abundant production of wonderful fresh food. Art gallery After dropping-in to the Bush Café for a yarn and a feed, you can enjoy a wander through the adjacent Aboriginal Art Gallery, and take-in the location's quiet bushland setting. The Bush Café & Aboriginal Art Gallery is located at Forestec, 27 Scriveners Road, Kalimna West and is open Monday to Friday from 8.30am-4pm, excluding public holidays. To find out more, visit gunaikurnai.org or facebook.com/glawac Discover real bush-tucker flavours at the Bush Café Pictured clockwise from top: Kevin Murray, a proud Gunaikurnai man, and head chef at the Bush Café , is passionate about incorporating distinctive Indigenous ‘bush tucker’ flavours into his meals. Head chef Kevin, outside the café , which shares space with an excellent Aboriginal art gallery. The Café is perfect for a coffee and a snack, or a full meal. The Bush Café is nestled among serene native bushland.
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