Dovetail on Overend has become a Norman Park, if not, Brisbane brunch institution over the last five years. The cafe by owners Rejoice and Adam is known for serving up healthy and delicious brunch fare, gluten free baked goods, it’s award-winning coffee, as well as unique filipino flavours, owing to Rejoice’s heritage. With such a successful formula spoiling the locals in this inner East Brisbane suburb, Adam and Rejoice have decided to share the love and open a second cafe at the leafy suburb of Highgate Hill. Ahead of the opening, get to know Adam and Rejoice, as they speak about all things Dovetail and what inspires them.

For those who are not too familiar with Dovetail on Overend, tell us a little about your story, and how it all came about all those years ago, what you did before the cafe, and who the team behind Dovetail is:

We opened Dovetail on Overend in 2014. At the time we had some very definite ideas about what we wanted to offer, but looking back we can see now that today ideas evolved greatly over the 5+ years we've been operating.

Image Supplied @dovetailonoverend Instagram

I (Adam) came from an IT background. It was something I had really enjoyed for the majority of my previous career, but during the final years, my passion for Coffee and Food was too strong to ignore and I felt I simply had to pursue it. Outside of work, I always loved travel, and living in France when I was younger really helped develop my palate. For several years I was doing cafe reviews and that really allowed me to tap into what makes a great cafe experience and gave us some definite ideas on what we wanted to offer.

Rejoice has a background in the pharmaceutical industry, but she had taken a break from that prior to us getting married and then welcoming our daughter Bella into the world.

When we opened Dovetail in 2014, we tried to create a unique and charming space that was an authentic representation of a Suburban Brisbane cafe. We wanted a space where locals could really connect, a focal point for our local community. From day 1, our whole team was super passionate about coffee and we literally aimed to have the best coffee in Australia. During our first two years of trading, our house blend called "Purple Haze" actually was the outright winner at Golden Bean (world's largest Coffee Roasters Competition) two years running, so we possibly did have the best coffee in the country.

Food-wise we have always been focused on flavour, and offering dishes that you won't find at dozens of other nearby cafes. Some of the dishes we created right at the start (like our legendary Baked Eggs #7) are still on the menu as they are so loved by our customers. We also wanted to be leaders in offering great dishes for coeliacs, vegans, and really cater for a range of food intolerance and preferences. Gluten free food and desserts in particular have always been a huge focus for us. But we've always approached it a bit differently to many others. Gluten free dishes and desserts that we serve are as good, if not better, than the non-GF version. In fact, we only bake gluten free donuts and other treats in our oven. Our dedicated GF good prep areas and kitchen procedures help ensure we can offer 100% gluten free food without any cross contamination. Plus we don't charge extra for gluten free, ever!

Image Supplied @dovetailonoverend Instagram. Gluten Free Reuben Sandwich.

In more recent times, we've really embraced and tried to share more of Rejoice's Filipino heritage in our food and desserts. So Dovetail is really ground zero for gluten free Ube (purple yam) flavoured donuts and other desserts. Plus we've also been able to introduce classic Filipino dishes (like our Adobo Bowl) to a whole new audience, and naturally we've also made it gluten free so everyone can enjoy it. That dish has a special place in Rejoice's heart as it's based on a family recipe from her late father Reggie.

We've been very fortunate to attract a wonderful team who love what they do and really go out of their way to make every customer experience special.

Image Supplied @dovetailonoverend Instagram. The Chicken and Pork Adobo Bowl, gluten free.

Rejoice, where did you learn how to bake and cook, and who is your inspiration?

Growing up in the Philippines my family loved to cook and we enjoyed eating out. My Dad was a great cook, whenever I cook now I always think of him, our home, and the dishes I enjoyed in my childhood. But I never knew how to cook nor bake prior to coming to Australia in 2007. When I married Adam, I had to learn how to cook as he is coeliac and I wanted him to experience food I enjoy eating like Filipino food. One winter night I decided to make him a gluten-free pie. When I served it to him for the first time his eyes started to well up because he never thought he would be able to enjoy apple pie again. From that day on I vowed that I would learn how to make more glutenfree food and desserts. So in the beginning I was self taught and finally in 2015, a year after we opened Dovetail on Overend I went to Patisserie school to become a qualified pastry chef.

Your cafe specialises in gluten free dishes and baked goods, as well as unique filipino flavours (being of Filipino heritage). Tell us a little about this, and why this is important for you at Dovetail?
I love being able to share a bit of my cultural heritage. Filipino food is a melting pot influenced by different cultures from Chinese, American, Spanish and other neighbouring Asian countries but distinct in it's own way. It also gives me great joy to serve dishes and recipes handed down from my family. I only cook and bake gluten-free in the cafe. Having a husband and daughter who are coeliac, I experience first hand how difficult it can be eating out and to find gluten-free Filipino food.

We now have an amazing following for our gluten free baked goods, and it's so rewarding to see how much joy things I bake can bring to others. With everything I create, I spend as much time as needed to develop my recipe, tweaking constantly to get the exact flavour and texture I want. I think that's what makes our GF baked goods unique and special. You can really taste the difference.

Image Supplied @dovetailonoverend Instagram. The famous Ube donuts, (Purple Yam).

Ube (purple yam) is one of my favourite ingredients to use in my baking as it's such a popular dessert flavour in the Philippines. I love to see how this has been embraced here by our Australian customers with various backgrounds.

What is your all-time favourite filipino Dish?
My all time favourite dish is the Adobo. Every household in the Philippines will have their own version of this dish. But my friends would always request my Dad's adobo whenever they visit. In fact, Adobo is tagged the 'national dish' of the Philippines. Chicken or pork meat is braised in soy, garlic, and vinegar. In The cafe, this has become quite a popular dish. Our Adobo bowl is complimented by Laing (kale curry), asian mushrooms, and devilled eggs, on a bed of garlic rice. This dish is very personal to me because this dish is based on my Dads adobo recipe. My favourite Filipino dessert delicacy will have to be the puto bumbong. It’s milled purple rice cake steamed in bamboo tubes, you will often see this during Christmas time sold outside churches during ‘Misa de Gallo’ roosters mass.

Image Supplied @dovetailonoverend Instagram. The Bibingka Rice Cake.

With Dovetail in Norman Park firmly established, it would have been easy to rest on your success and continue with what you already have. Tell us, when did the idea for Dovetail Highgate Hill come about and why Highgate Hill?

We've absolutely loved our time at Dovetail on Overend. It's such a fun place to work, with a great team and truly wonderful customers. But we've also been yearning to bring Dovetail to a larger audience. Dovetail Highgate Hill will allow that as it's a much larger space, but importantly it has a similar feel about it. We started to look around at potential locations towards the end of 2019, and when we set foot in the Highgate Hill location, it just felt so right that we put in an offer as so as we could. The suburb, and in particular Laura St (where we'll be located) has a lovely sense of community about it and we can already see that we'll soon know everyone on a first name basis. The central location also allows us to setup Highgate Hill as our base of operations for our baking and we can then easily supply our other locations.

Image supplied @dovetailonoverend Instagram. The pizza breakfast!

What can we expect from Dovetail Highgate Hill; what will the people of Brisbane experience, and Will it have something the Norman Park cafe won't?

While both cafes will have lots in common and a similar vibe, Highgate Hill does have a few key differences. We're retaining a very open work space for coffee and our kitchen so it's still very interactive; but Highgate Hill will have lots of internal seating in what is a beautiful character building. At Norman Park, all our seating is our front on the footpath under the cover of a large awning. Highgate Hill will have a larger kitchen so we'll be able to offer even more with our food menu; plus a bigger space for baking. We're also developing our online ordering system to allow people to order our baked treats in advance and just pick up from one of our cafes. We'll be working across both locations, so everyone can enjoy the same friendly personal service at both locations.

Opening date?
10th December 2020.

Adam, is the coffee guru of Dovetail. What beans will we expect to be brewed at Dovetail Highgate Hill?
We'll be continuing to offer our current house blend for white coffee (roasted by our good friend Robbie at Almanac Coffee Roasters). It's a smooth but super tasty blend that we designed to be perfect with milk. But I think Highgate Hill will be blown away by our black coffee. We offer rotating single origins from only a handful of Australia's best Roasters, and a Dovetail long black is simply amazing.

Adam, how do you like your coffee? How about you, Rejoice?
I look forward to my long black every morning. Rejoice usually takes a macadamia milk cappuccino, except when I convince her she has to try a long black!

Who is the better cook at home?
It's probably a pretty even match. We both have our own special dishes that everyone loves. We do send an awful lot of time in the kitchen though. Thankfully, we both still enjoy cooking a nice dinner even after a full day working in our cafe.

Image Supplied @dovetailonoverend Instagram. The signature tasting plate.

When you're both not working and manage to have some time away from the cafe, what do you do outside of Dovetail; what are your interests?

We both love going to the movies and that is often our regular treat on our days off. Funnily enough, we also really love going out to eat, especially for breakfast and coffee, so we love supporting other great Brisbane cafes. When we have a bit more time, we love to getaway on scenic road trips. Byron Bay is a favourite quick getaway. Although we're usually super busy, cafe hours do allow us to spend some quality time with our daughter Bella every day, and this is also something we every grateful for.

Dovetail Highgate Hill was set to Open in February / March 2020 but due to COVID-19, had to be delayed. Located at 49 Laura St Highgate Hill. To keep up to date with the latest on this, subscribe to our website, or follow @discoverbrisbane, @dovetailonoverend or visit dovetailsocial.com.au

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