Sunday Breakfast with Tom Gleeson
Francesca Fogarty 22 September 2008
Trendy bread drives Tom nuts.
For Tom, it doesn't get any better than plain old white bread. It has to be white- none of that wholemeal stuff. It has to be square. And it has to be fresh. Bread should be a blank canvas, the perfect medium to fill with great stuff. Tom's wife Ellie tries to trick him every now and then by purchasing sourdough in a sliced loaf, but Tom's not fooled.
Tom grew up on a farm, where a square loaf of fluffy, white bread wrapped in brown paper, was delivered each morning to the post box. The corner store or local cafe wasn't exactly an option for breakfast, so Mrs Gleeson taught her boy a recipe that could be made at any time of the day to quell Tom's hungry teenage belly. Little did she know that she'd taught her boy a trick that he would use forever.
These days Tom's favourite Sunday morning breakfast is fried eggs and chilli jam on white bread (untoasted), spread to the edge with a thin layer of butter. Tom, a pioneer of the eggs-with-chilli movement (Tom thinks the word pioneer is a bit strong, but he does acknowledge that he was one of the first), has it down pat.
His secret is to use both butter and oil to fry the egg (so the butter doesn't burn) and to set the heat low. The egg is cooked to perfection with yummy brown bits form around the edges. Simple and perfect.
Tom never toasts the bread, arguing that if the bread is fresh, it doesn't need it. The added benefit of fresh bread is that the yolk makes the bread all gooey and good. Tom actually forgot about this trick for a while, and was reminded by a visit to the Commoner in Fitzroy where he enjoyed a dish called the Honkey (described as a 'bitchin' sandwich for white people' according to owner Jo Corrigan). It's minimal effort with maximum results. Effectively it's a sandwich, and a damn fine one at that.
Café Thomas is open on Saturdays and Sundays, and attracts a pretty exclusive clientele- Ellie and pooch Poppy.
Breakfast is one of life's simple pleasures for Tom. During the week he wakes early for breakfast radio on Mix 101. Now, when I say early, I really do mean early. Technically he wakes up at 4.45 am, but sets his clock fifteen minutes fast to read 5.00 am, so he feels like a normal human being. Breakfast during the week is snuck in during a song on the radio. He enjoys All-Bran topped with something yummy made by Ellie. Stewed rhubarb or strawberries, with mint, sugar and rose syrup are ‘embarrassingly good,' says Tom.
So on the weekends, Tom likes to take his time. Be at home. Enjoy the morning. Sleep in (till six), then make his fried-egg sandwich. For a man who travels a lot for work, eating out is no longer a novelty. Tom much prefers to be at home with Ellie and Poppy. The menu at Café Thomas isn't extensive, but it fits the bill.