Professionals Tamborine Mountain 
Today, we explore something entirely new: a yet-unrealised new business filled with potential and possibility. At the time of writing, Ivan Tapia and Verity Robinson are getting ready to take over the popular Canungra Hub Café and transform it into something Canungra has never seen before. Find out what’s in store for this upcoming local hotspot.
by Kyle Hitchmough
You’re poised to take over the Canungra Hub Café. What attracted your interest in this?
We came across the idea of opening up a tapas bar, which is something we enjoy going out to, and creating our own foods is something we like doing. Getting people together and enjoying good food, atmosphere and wine. There was an opportunity that came up here at the Canungra Hub, and we decided to give it a go. At the moment we’re just doing the breakfast cafes, and we’re still going to keep that theme, but we’re going to make a venue for tapas through the week. It’s something different that Canungra doesn’t really have.
Can you describe what tapas is?
It’s basically food that’s shared amongst people. People can come in and order two, three, four different types of tapas, enjoy a glass of wine or a gin or beer on tap, and relax and enjoy a good time. Nothing’s really formal or fine dining. Between us we’ve been in the hospitality industry for 25 years, so we wanted to create something different for the people who live in Canungra.
Where did the interest in opening this tapas bar come from?
Ivan’s background is South American, and tapas bars originated in Spain. It’ll be quality tapas— a lot of people think they know what tapas is. You’ll see it on menus, but it’s just some deep-fried prawns or something like that. We want to put our spin on tapas here and hopefully everyone enjoys it. It’ll go with our gin and wine lists to be created on top of that.
What changes do you plan to make to the business to suit this new direction?
It’s going to be called El Social. It’s getting everyone together, socialising, having a good time, relaxing and enjoying the great atmosphere. That’s why we created the name, the Spanish and English combined together.
What about the menu? Do you intend to add more South American cuisine options to it?
There’ll be some typical South American dishes on the menu for the tapas bar: empanadas, a traditional Chilean pastry, octopus, a variety of Spanish meatballs, there’ll be some churros, and little bits and pieces of things we like doing. During the daytime there’s breakfast and lunch here that we’ll keep, we’re just tweaking the menu up a bit. At night, things that’ll go nicely with a good glass of wine or a tap from the local brewery here, as well as some very specified gins. We want to bring gin into the community.
Why the particular focus on a gin bar?
We love gin, and it does seem to be becoming very trendy at the moment. People are excited about it because there’s not really a place here that sells a variety of gins. There’ll be cocktails and things on the menu too. We want to do something that we like, not just copy other cafes or bars.
Have you been working with the business in its current form?
Verity’s worked here for over two years, she does all the baking out the back, and Ivan’s been here for the past couple of weeks learning the operations. He’s a whiz with cooking, a qualified chef by trade. His training was in Melbourne, and he was fortunate enough to work with some fine dining restaurants there, as well as running a bar. As a whole, we’ve got a good knowledge of how everything works and we’re going along with that and creating our own thing.
Are there any trends in your current clientele, and has that impacted your decision-making?
There’s a lot more younger families coming in. I think we need to keep that younger generation in mind. That’s where the gins and the alcohol play a part. When they want to go somewhere with nightlife, trendy atmosphere and bars, there’s places like Surfers or Broadbeach but those are too far. We want to create something similar to that, more of a social atmosphere.
Are you locals? What are your opinions on the Canungra area and community?
Yes, we are. We think it’s a great community. Everyone sticks up for each other, everyone’s very friendly. We love it here, we wouldn’t move. You get a lot of tourists that come through this town, and it’s good for them because they realise there is something away from the suburbs. It’s a beautiful town, everyone’s happy, and everyone likes trying new things.
Do you have any particular favourite things to do in the area?
Going into nature and doing stuff with our kids. There are beautiful creeks here we go to on the weekends. Also, we take our son to Muay Thai training at Mount Tamborine. We like travelling and finding different things. We went to Sarabah Winery a few weeks back, there’s the alpaca farms… there’s a lot of hidden gems around here.
What are you most looking forward to about this new venture?
It’s providing something that people get enjoyment from. It brings us joy. We just want to see happy faces come through and get that excitement out of people. Anyone’s welcome.
Is there anything else you’d like to go on the record?
There will be a change in the interior, putting in the bar, giving it a more modern feel. Tapas will start on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and we are going to be fully licensed with a fully prepped bar. The beers on tap will be sourced from local breweries and changed up regularly. We don’t want to compete with the pub, so we’ll be serving different varieties, more crafty beers, and ciders as well. Tapas will be served at night, there’ll be breakfast and lunch during the day, and sweets. Verity is a magician with sweets. There are a few items we’ll be putting on there that Canungra doesn’t have. We can’t reveal all our secrets yet, but we’ll bring something that hasn’t been seen here lately. We’ll also do specialty cakes—novelty, birthday, and wedding cakes.
We are always looking for new topics for our blog. If there’s something you like to see more of, email your suggestions to: social@professionalsserendipity.com.au, or email the writer at kyle.hitchmough@hotmail.com.
