AS far as occupations go, graphic design and cake decorating would appear to be worlds apart.
But for former Mukinbudin local Tammi de Rooy, putting the two together has helped develop her dream job.
Tammi is busy building her profile in the Perth food scene as a creator of unique, art-inspired food and desserts.
Last October she, with the support of husband Aaron, took the plunge and opened a business on Cambridge Street in the western suburb of Wembley.
Garnished – The Sweet Kitchen is a stylish dine-in and takeaway café which has enabled Tammi to expand her food dream and give the devoted customer base she has built up from her exquisite wedding cake decorating skills, an actual shopfront to visit.
It’s a long way from her days growing up on the Ventris family wheat and sheep farm at Mukinbudin, where she remained until the age of 12 before heading off to boarding school at Perth College in Mount Lawley.
After completing high school, Tammi studied graphic design at university and absolutely loved it, but she could see there wasn’t going to be a lot of space to grow creatively in Perth.
Travelling overseas helped to give her a new direction where she could continue that passion in another form.
Looking through the windows of patisseries around Europe, seeing the amazing array of colours and textures, Tammi fell in love with pastry and the idea of creating her own.
“The food that was being sold in the patisseries was so creative, and unlike anything we’d really seen in Australia,” she said.
Tammi had always loved baking, but on her return to Perth she set about training to become a pastry chef.
She worked for renowned local catering company Heyder and Shears for about three years, honing her baking skills, while at the same time building a cake-decorating business.
“I was working on the cake decorating, most of which was for wedding cakes, as a creative outlet while I was learning the art of baking,” she said.
Tammi’s cakes had a point of difference when compared with many others – she would handpaint them, which allowed her to use her amazing skills in fine arts while also giving her clients an incredibly unique product.
But when she fell pregnant with son Eli, now two, Tammi struggled to work in a kitchen as the smell of food triggered morning sickness.
“I couldn’t continue working in the kitchen and the demand for my wedding cakes had been good, so I thought I may as well make it into a full-time business,” she said.
Tammi turned her attention to building up her cake decorating business, with the intention of opening a shopfront in the near future.
That dream became a reality late last year when she opened Garnished, which is the latest incarnation for a shop that has previously housed a takeaway cake businesses.
The interior was gutted, giving it a stunning makeover and the kitchen space was reduced, providing more dining room for customers.
Tammi has already made her unmistakable mark on the fresh white walls of the interior with beautiful hand painted flowers.
“The cakes and handpainting are my specialties, so it’s been nice to transfer that into this space with the handpainted artwork on the walls,” she said.
Upon opening the door, café visitors are greeted by a cabinet brimming with delicate pastries including salted caramel and chocolate tarts and lemon meringue tarts, as well as jars filled with delectable hand-painted treats such as jaffa melting moments and strawberry meringue drops.
While all of these treats are available dine-in or takeaway, Tammi also has a brunch menu for diners that includes pancakes, smashed avocado, toast, crepes and egg on toast – all of which have a twist.
“I really want to put a spin on traditional café food in this space, as well as doing the special occasion foods,” she said.
“Food should have buckets full of flavour and look “almost” too pretty to eat.
“A dish without garnishes is incomplete – hence the name of the business.”
When you order toast, it is not just any old toast – it’s sourdough, served with artisanal butter and a house-made preserve.
And the crepes are actually beetroot crepes, with sautéed mushrooms and kale, pomegranate seeds, caramelised balsamic and feta.
Tammi is extremely passionate about supporting local producers when sourcing goods for the café.
For example, the coffee beans are sourced from The Margaret River Roasting Co, which Tammi proudly states she was their first Perth-based client, while their milk is from award-winning Northcliffe business Bannister Downs.
As well as getting ready to launch a new brunch menu in September, and continuing with ever-popular high teas, Tammi is busily planning a new round of special art series evenings which have previously proven extremely popular.
The menus for the special pre-booked night events will be held in October and November and will feature food inspired by paintings.
Tammi said a previous event included a plated dessert inspired by French impressionist Claude Monet’s iconic Water Lilies oil painting, which featured macaroons as the water lilies.
“We look at the colours, textures and feelings of paintings, and reinterpret them into an edible form,” she said.
Tammi is also bracing herself for more cake orders to start rolling in as spring signals a particularly popular time of the year for weddings.
She said the wedding and special occasion cakes were a big passion, and would always be at the core of the business.
These days the cakes – which, staying true to form, can be made to order in an amazing array of flavours – are mostly cooked by the two chefs at Garnished, while Tammi has total artistic control when it comes to the decorating.
Depending on the level of detail and the design required on the cakes, which are generally at least two tiers, they can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days to decorate.
Tammi said she loved the fact that cakes, whether they were covered in fondant or butter cream, were just like a blank canvas waiting for her to cover in a unique design.
“It’s a labour of love, because it is very labour-intensive work,” she said.
“It really is like working on a canvas though, because I have to employ techniques just like doing watercolour or oil style paintings.”
Tammi said it was an exciting time to be involved in food in Perth, as food was on the rise.
“People are more aware of quality food,” she said.
She is also eagerly awaiting the completion of road works along Cambridge Street, which she has and her customers have had to contend with over the past few months.
