The Seasons Cafe in Douro Street

from w
We only got to know Douro Street, North Geelong, with our many trips to the Recycling place there, but there's a very neat cafe not far away. KCommercial is a not-for-profit institution that trains and employs people with a disability and is to be commended.  They not only do excellent catering - mainly sending out to functions, but a landscaping program, and a printery.  Today Peceli and I decided to check out the cafe. It's small - only for about sixteen people to sit down but during the lunch hour it was very busy with workers coming in for takeway lunches. The meal was economical and I'm glad that our church uses KCommercial for the  morning or afternoon tea supplies when our church people are looking after bereaved people after a funeral in our church or at Hepners. Also our women's group will be going there later in the year, I hope for a speaker to tell us about their projects or we can tour the building before eating lunch.

http://www.kommercial.org.au/

 

From Review magazine in Geelong

 

Seasons in North Geelong is a café with a difference … from its food offerings, to the staff who work there. The café is part of Karingal Kommercial’s food services, which employs people with a disability to prepare and serve food at the Douro Street café. Seasons also offers both a gourmet food range and corporate and event catering. 

Seasons Cafe by Karingal

14:15:PM 25/06/2014
Julia Millard

Seasons in North Geelong is a café with a difference … from its food offerings, to the staff who work there. The café is part of Karingal Kommercial’s food services, which employs people with a disability to prepare and serve food at the Douro Street café. Seasons also offers both a gourmet food range and corporate and event catering.

As an Australian disability enterprise, Karingal Kommerical operates a range of businesses in the Geelong region. There are three divisions: hospitality, business and environmental solutions.

Karingal Kommerical manager Lisa Couper says hospitality has about 25 crew members and 20 staff working across Geelong with local businesses, including Alcoa and CSIRO.

“At Seasons we have two front-of-house crew members and two supporting employees, as well as those working in the kitchen to prepare the food,” she says. “Additionally there are five qualified chefs on site, who are providing a lot of support to the crew as well as helping to deliver great food to customers.  We also hold accredited training days on site. It’s regular employment and it’s just like a regular commercial kitchen. But, while it’s funded through the Victorian government and essentially supported employment, it also needs to be commercially viable.”

Couper says the main goal at Seasons is to provide healthy, nutritious food to people who work in or visit the businesses in the surrounding area. Healthy food might be the focus, but fried food is also available. “People can either order from the bain marie, which offers quick access, or from the sit-down menu,” she says. “The bain marie offers people a variety of food and it changes every day. There is pizza, soup, mains and burgers. There are also two different salads each day to select from.

“What’s great about this café is that everything is made on site, including our catering range. The only thing we order in is our bread from a local supplier. We even make our own pizza bases.”

Couper says Seasons is getting plenty of customers and is a great spot to stop in and grab something to eat. “We seat about 16 people and wanted the café to be really bright, modern and airy. It’s a big investment for this area of Geelong,” she says. “We have a takeaway window for people who don’t want to come in.”

Breakfast starts from 6.30am for those who are up bright and early; lunch follows from 11.30am. There are about five breakfast options and six options for lunch on the sit-down menu, plus bain marie food and selections in the display cabinet.

“We have focaccias, wraps, sandwiches, salads and yoghurts. We also have slices made on site,” Couper says. Typical slices include lemon, cherry, caramel, peppermint and hedgehog. Couper says the most popular, so far, is the choc fudge brownie.

Kommercial has run its catering service for about five years. A refrigerated van delivers catering orders throughout the Geelong region. Catering pieces can also be bought from the fridge at Seasons“We have an online ordering system, which is fantastic,” Couper says. “People can also purchase sweets and savoury boxes from our fridge. You can get a box of 12 or 16 pieces. For the sweets, it includes cupcakes, cheesecakes and various slices, and for the savoury it’s a range of pastries, meatballs and more.”

The Seasons Gourmet Food range is also popular. It includes jams, chutneys, mueslis, biscuits, sauces, dessert sauces, salad dressings and there are plans for more to come. “At Christmas we will introduce stuffing mixes, too,” Couper says.

If you are looking for somewhere to hold your next meeting, Karingal offers three meeting rooms at no cost to groups who use its catering services. One room can accommodate 60 people, and the others 10-20.

“It’s an exciting time and we are really proud of the new facility. It’s really rewarding to be a part of this,” Couper says.

» ... Seasons Café – at 77-79 Douro Street, North Geelong – is open Monday to Friday, 6.30am to 3pm. For more information or to order online, visit: www.kommercial.org.au/catering/