Forget your Bowls Club or your Book Club, The Grub Club is where you want to be! Introducing Paul ‘Dougie’ Douglas who, with his wife Belinda, has created one of the most enviable clubs in Australia. With a focus on sustainability and seasonality, The General Food Store was the duo’s first venture which has now grown to three locations under The Grub Club banner. We have peppered this Pom with questions about his business and of course his adopted home.
How did The General Food Store grow or progress to The Grub Club?
We opened The General Food Store back in 2011 and not long after started running events and catering from our cafe under the name The Grub Club. We were doing about 20 weddings a year, until we opened our restaurant, Bam Bam Italian back in 2017. It was then that we became a company and The Grub Club was the perfect fit for a name and is now the parent brand for all our products.
Explain the importance of sustainability and seasonality to your business?
It has been a focus from day one. We feel we have a duty as a small business to set a standard that others can follow and trust in. We compost all our organic matter, we only use bio products for our packaging, including sugarcane coffee cups, and we cook seasonally and use local produce where possible. We don't make a song and dance about it, it's just who we are.
Talk to us about the Bindle Brandy Butterscotch sauce…
We wanted to make Bindle a sauce that could be used beyond the festive season... if it makes it that far! We cook a caramel until it is dark amber, and then make the sauce out of that. The caramel removes some of the intense sweetness and gives it great depth. If there’s any leftover, try making a caramel chocolate slice out of it with puffed rice and melted chocolate!
(Well. Is anyone else’s mouth watering!?)
Australian made is the core pillar for Bindle, here are the short, sharp questions about our great land.
Favourite memory growing up as a kid in Australia?
I'm a Pom! But we're big on creating memories with our kids. They love days at the beach - rain, hail or shine! My eldest has been known to get in the water with a beanie on in Winter!
Favourite place to holiday in Australia?
We keep going back to Port Fairy. Love the wide, flat roads (we live in the Dandenongs!), and there's an ice cream place called Poco where they churn out new flavours every day... We love ice cream!
If you could invite three Australians to dinner (past or present) who would they be and why?
- Jimmy Rees, because he's hilarious and makes me laugh! 2. Ben Shewry. I would sit in awe of greatness and hope some of his skills rub off on me! 3. John Butler. He could play one of my favourite pieces of music, Ocean. (For the record, Ben Shewry is from New Zealand but you know, love thy neighbour).
If your mouth is still watering, head on over to the Bindle shop to get your hands on some of The Grub Club’s produce. Take your summer BBQ to the next level and give your tastebuds a real treat with the delightful products in the Summer Sizzle Bindle or show the family the Proof is in the Pud with the custom-made brandy butterscotch sauce this Christmas – available ONLY through Bindle! It is heaven!
