Mandurah cafe Wood and Stone is hoping to continue its golden era and nab back-to-back wins at this year’s Gold Plate Awards after it was again named finalist for best breakfast as well as a finalist in three other categories.
The foreshore cafe claimed the Gold Plate for best breakfast at last year’s awards despite only being open for about 18 months. It was also named finalist for best licensed cafe, best modern Australian dining and best new restaurant.
One year later, the successful cafe has been named finalist in four categories, including best breakfast, best licensed cafe, best modern Australian dining and best licensed casual dining.
As the reigning breakfast champs, Wood and Stone hopes to repeat last year’s win and more.
“We’re always getting good customer feedback but internally we’ve been short-staffed,” co-owner Josh McMahen said.
“To become finalists again in all four categories means we were going really well (despite staffing issues).”
McMahen said one of the things that sets Wood and Stone apart from the rest in Mandurah is its desire to “be a little bit of a notch up” from other standard venues.
“Even through this quieter (winter) period, we’re completely full on the weekends, turning people away,” he said.
“We’re running out of seating really quickly . . . we would really benefit from more space, that’s our main restriction at the moment.”
But the skyrocketing cost of living has made it difficult to keep that momentum going.
“Everything’s gone up by like 30 per cent, particularly food costs but also alcohol,” McMahen said.
“At this stage we haven’t passed that on (to customers), we’ve absorbed it all . . . eventually we’re going to have to pass that on.”
The McMahen family pursued a long-held dream of owning a cafe in 2021 when they opened Wood and Stone after identifying the need for more inner city-style venues in Mandurah.
Its ascension to one of the city’s favourite foreshore staples has seen the cafe move from strength to strength, including opening another two venues in Fired Pizza and The Corner Bakehouse (formerly Coco Loco).
McMahen said he hopes to further expand the Wood and Stone venues while staying true to their promise of excellent customer service and stellar food.
“I think our brand and our product is up there . . . but you can’t just rely on your place and product being good,” he said.
“We’ve got to be on point with customer service, food and consistency . . . you have to be on your game all the time.”
Gold Plate Award winners will be announced on October 30 at the Catering Institute of Australia WA’s annual gala event.