Mexican music producer turned chef Guillermo Batiz recently launched his dream 'botanero' at Husk, on the corner of Lawrence Hargrave Drive and Stanwell Avenue at Stanwell Park. For some customers, though, the concept has been lost in translation.
“I've been having trouble trying to rebrand the place,” Guillermo says. “Because if I say ‘cafe’ people don't even look at the menu board. They just immediately assume that I'm going to make bacon and egg rolls. I do … but I don't want to.
“I have guacamole on toast, not avo on toast, you know? So it's trying to change what people thought this place was.
“It's not a cafe and it's not a restaurant, that’s for sure. I don't want those titles.
“It's called ‘botanero’, which means ‘a place where you get snacks’. That's how you would literally translate it from Spanish to English. But it sounds bad in English. Japanese people have really good concepts of that and it's called ‘omakase’ in Japan, which is ‘let someone else do it’.
“Right now, it’s Memo's place, that's all. When you come here, it's like this is my house. You are welcome.”
Guillermo emigrated 15 years ago after falling in love with Tamryn Bennett, an Australian on holiday in Mexico. Fittingly, they met over coffee.
“She was travelling with a friend and they met me at a cafe [Mexico City's Cafe Tacuba]. There was no tables for them so they sat down with me and we just started talking … And look at me now, it’s 15 years later. We have two kids and we're happy."
The couple have two boys: one aged five years and the other 14 weeks, only slightly older than the new business.
Guillermo plans to open Husk in the afternoons once he has more staff. “I have to do the baking, the logistics, the administration, the service in the kitchen. Sometimes I'm the barista as well. But I'm having so much fun.
“I love cooking, like it's my hobby. When I close down the cafe, I'm still here, inventing stuff, reading other recipes that I want to make or remake and just offer to the people.”
His ‘Burrito of the Day’ is a stand-out feature on a menu inspired by what’s in season.
“I try to change it every day,” he says.
Behind each meal is a story, whether it’s about memories of his nana’s cooking or the chef who gave him the recipe.
“You have to talk to me if you want to know what is in it,” he says. “Customers, they're not just getting food, they are getting an experience, they're getting a story. Sometimes, if I have time, I make guacamole at the table for them.”
The botanero focuses on whole foods, like a biodynamic kitchen, he says. “I don't prep things. Everything's done to order… I cut my own steaks, I do my own fish, I do my own baking … just to make it 100% sure; I know it's gluten-free because I made it.”
He aims to avoid food waste. “I'm going with the seasons as much as possible. I used plums the other week, I've used pistachios. I keep my menu very simple. It's like burrito of the day, salad of the day, sandwich of the day. It means, ‘it's what I have’. All I want is to reduce wastage as much as possible.
“My bin bags are really light because I compost, then that compost goes to the farm in Otford.”
Like many cafe owners, Guillermo is struggling with the cost-of-living crisis, but has a five-year plan to keep him motivated. In Mexico, he says, there’s a saying: “Don't take the finger off the line, as in when you're reading a book, or you won't get it.
“I'm going to stick to it.”
The cost of a cuppa is rising and Husk charges the now standard $5 for a regular flat white. Guillermo says his prices are "fair” and that customers need to take into account the high cost of operating a cafe. “Fifty percent or more of my earnings goes to pay the employees. So it's really hard for a hospitality business nowadays to stay afloat or get ahead because of the wages.”
Husk is open from 6.30am-3.30pm and Guillermo intends to offer takeaway dinners that may be pre-ordered in the afternoon. He also plans to rebrand – look out for a name change soon – and start his own social media accounts. For the moment, he’s inviting locals to simply drop in and discover the joys of a botanero.
“Just pop in. We make our own cakes, I try to make the most of them gluten-free. It's a great place, I've been dreaming about this place for 24 years.
“The only thing is to come and experience the place. That's all.”
