Family affair … (from left) Tony, Sophie, Ben, Holly, Kristy and Ethan Wenke have fallen in love with the close-knit Jindera community, and on busy weekends it’s all hands on deck to help in the cafe. Photo: Chloe Smith Photography.
Robbie Wenke has a fond but funny memory of a strange request from his mother, Andrea, while he was holidaying in Thailand many moons ago.
“She asked, ‘Robbie, you couldn’t buy me a cafe over there, could you?’,” he recalls. “I said, ‘Gosh, Mum, can’t you just be like everyone else and get a handbag?'”
As it turns out, Robbie would buy his mum a cafe … just a lot closer to home: The Fox & Brew at Jindera, in December 2017.
Andrea, or “Angie”, as she was affectionately known, had always dreamed of owning a cafe selling coffee and her home-baked cakes, and she’d loved the quaint charm of the business, previously owned by Virginia Scholz.
But six months into the venture, Angie became unwell and it all became too much.
“I was in Germany at the time and got a message saying, ‘I don’t want it anymore’,” Robbie laughs wryly.
Enter sister-in-law (and close mate) Kristy Wenke, with a long history in hospitality, including 17 years helping to manage Peregrines Function Centre at Table Top Mountain, Gerogery.
Living at Henty with her husband, Tony, the mum of four (who had two-year-old twins Holly and Sophie at home at the time) began filling in two days a week at The Fox & Brew, before stepping in to manage the cafe full time after a move to East Albury.
The arrival of COVID-19 presented the perfect opportunity for a makeover (first in 2019 and then 2021), with an extensive redesign to a modern, crisp white decor and beautiful floorboards, which customers have likened to “our very own Byron Bay”, according to Robbie.
Keen to retain a respectful nod to Jindera’s rich German pioneering history, the cafe’s walls are dotted with photographs from the town’s past — “a really nice way of bringing in the old to our new space”, Robbie says.
The glass cabinet filled with homemade slices and sweet treats pays homage to the legacy of Angie, who died in 2022, and whose birthday will be celebrated this Mother’s Day weekend.
“The apple crumble slice in our fridge is a combination of a German recipe for ‘Streuselkuchen’, from Angie’s family, with a base that’s my recipe,” Kristy says.
The seasonal fare incorporates an extensive breakfast menu and lunch offerings that range from fish and chips, chicken burger and open steak sandwich to salad bowls, winter soups and chef’s specials of the day, signature smoothies, and hot and cold beverages.
Oh, and you won’t find Robbie working in the cafe as he can’t cook “and I’m a hopeless barista!”. Married to Rebecca, with two daughters, Maisy, 4, and Olivia, 13, he’s much better placed as the well-loved school chaplain at nearby St Paul’s College, Walla.
“Robbie’s the visionary and I’m the worker,” Kristy laughs. But on busy weekends and public holidays, you will find most of the Wenke family members helping out.
Region caught up with Robbie and Kristy as part of our ‘’Five Minutes with’’ series.
Best recent dining experience?
Robbie and Kristy: The Eggs Benedict at Albury’s 2640 Restaurant & Bar (where Kristy once worked as a waitress and is a long-time school friend of owner Joel Carey and his partner, Border chef Andrew Milton, who died tragically in 2022).
We still use Andrew’s special Hollandaise sauce recipe at The Fox & Brew.
Favourite type of cuisine?
Robbie: Bangers and mash or Mum’s goulash.
Most embarrassing thing in your pantry?
Kristy: Two-minute noodles — it was the only thing Robbie could cook!
One ingredient you can’t live without?
Kristy: Eggs. We go through a lot of eggs for baking and breakfasts.
Robbie: Kristy! If she wasn’t here, I’d sell up.
Something new on the menu?
Kristy: Winter soup is back and today’s offering was spicy cauliflower.
What’s the weirdest food you’ve eaten or don’t like?
Robbie: I ate crickets in Thailand once and was hanging on to the toilet bowl pretty hard afterwards.
Kristy: Anything when I’m pregnant!
Top cooking tips (from Kristy)?
- Always cook with love. Cooking, for me, is wrapped up in memories of my mum and (Peregrines’ original owner) Elizabeth Paterson; both women were awesome cooks and an inspiration to me.
- I’m a stickler for organisation and cleanliness in the kitchen.
Favourite cookbook?
Kristy: The Riverlife Church Cookbook — it’s where I first started at church and it had those good, old-fashioned home-cooked farming wives’ recipes.
Best coffee experience?
Kristy: (Laughs) Well, ours, of course … I actually didn’t drink coffee before I worked here. Now I can’t live without it.
Robbie: The best coffee I’ve had was in Singapore. My friend dragged me through a series of back alleys to a place where we drank coffee through a straw out of a clear plastic bag with wire handles. It had a hazelnut finish and the whole experience was amazing.
What keeps you in the hospitality game?
Robbie: I worked in The Fox & Brew for a while, but ended up working elsewhere because I talked too much and just got in the way of staff.
Kristy: My husband, Tony, and I love having people in our home, so this (The Fox & Brew) is our home.
When Angie passed away, Robbie and Kristy were going to let it go, but they had fallen in love with Jindera, its people and the wonderfully supportive community.
The pair has hinted there are new plans afoot … so watch this space!
The Fox & Brew, 92A Urana Street, Jindera, is open seven days for breakfast and lunch (Monday to Friday, 7:30 am — 2 pm; Saturday and Sunday, 8 am — 2 pm). Check it out on Facebook.
