The tapas-style cafe/wine bar opened on Imlay St in Eden just under 12 months ago. Owners Jodie Dunnage and Peter Dunnage are giving away only a few bite-sized secrets to their success. 

Inspired by and having worked with the food waste movement through Oz Harvest, Ms Dunnage said the move to serving smaller sized meals was a no-brainer.

“There is far too much food wastage. I mean a large serving of fish, chips and salad always ends up with half in the bin. Our aim is to develop plates that are satisfying yet not wasteful.”

So far, the journey seems to have satisfied the taste buds of Eden locals and visitors alike. 

“We have received loads of positive feedback on our social media sites,” Ms Dunnage said.

“People make comments like – ‘if you’re travelling to town stop in’. We are getting a little bit of a following, which is nice.”

Ms Dunnage said although it’s nice to have the following of travellers from out of town, she also takes great pride in having the support of the local community. 

“We are appreciative of the support we have had from the people of Eden. It’s not just about the tourists, it’s about keeping the locals happy as well.”

Don’t be fooled by the terminology – “piattini” means “small plate” in Italian and “tapas” is Spanish. The cuisine offered at  Ollie Mason’s is a combination of tastes inspired from all over the world. 

“We have Australian,Thai, Mexican and a huge range of other international cuisine. Our menu is constantly evolving, we are not pinned down to one country or type of food,” Ms Dunnage said.

 At the time of writing the popular cafe was closed so the couple could work on the “evolving” menu that is set to change again this week.

Wanting to keep the new menu under wraps until its launch on Wednesday, Ms Dunnage wasn’t giving too much away. 

“We like to add variety and change it keeps us on our toes and people don’t seemed to get bored.

“The new menu is top secret, however I will say that we are including duck ravioli in beurre blanc sauce. We tried it out on a couple of customers not long ago, it went down very well.” 

Now the word is out and the readers have voted, keeping secrets might just be a little bit harder for the crew at Ollie Mason’s.