Creating connections and food memories
Owner of Lithgow’s Secret Creek Cafe and Vegan Weddings and Events, Tenille Evans, has used her lockdown time in 2020 and now in 2021, to create a cookbook she hopes will inspire people to come together and create food memories when the world hopefully goes back to normal soon.
The plant-based chef’s passionate commitment to creating incredible food has seen Secret Creek become one of the top destinations for foodies visiting the region, whether they are vegan or just love amazing flavours and food.
“Secret Creek became a fully plant based restaurant back in the end of 2015 and we have been catering vegan weddings in both Sydney and regionally for the last five years,” said Tenille.
Tenille has always been a creative, having studied design at University, but her writing practice had fallen away over the years. It wasn’t until the families Secret Creek Sanctuary and the cafe were threatened by fire in the Black Summer bushfires that she once again found solace in that form of expression.
“I started writing around the time of the bushfires in 2019 and 2020. I actually wrote some poetry the day before the fire hit Secret Creek and then another on the day after, and I found it really helped express what I was feeling,” said Tenille.
During lockdown in 2020, Tenille began fulfilling a goal of using her reawakened creative writing as a catalyst in developing what she hopes will become a book that people will share and take inspiration from, but also add a little piece of themselves into.
The book, titled “Lover, Come Home” is more than a recipe book. It contains what Tenille calls Love Notes throughout, giving the recipes context and meaning as she relates stories that inspire her culinary creations.
“There are a lot of recipes, but there are also little pieces of writing about connection, food stories, family, and places,” said Tenille.
“Its a very personal book, but my intention is that people will really lean into the process, infusing their own intention into the recipes to create their own memories,” said Tenille.
COVID has had some very obvious impacts on the entire hospitality industry, and Secret Creek Cafe has pivoted like many business, offering take-away food, and other items as they can.
Tenille has used this as an opportunity to begin expanding her offering via this new book and offering online courses in cooking. Something she feels will be of great benefit in the future as she looks to have further impact beyond catering a wedding or serving guests at the restaurant.
Her hope is that this new book will inspire people to create happy memories around amazing food, hopefully plant based and vegan food, and bring more joy into the world.
PRE-ORDER the book here:
https://veganweddingsandevents.com/store/lovercomehome
Follow Tenille on Instagram to keep up to date https://www.instagram.com/tenilleevans
