The Outpost Café: Pie above sea level
When I speak to Andrew Covino, he’s getting ready for surgery on his hand. He broke it at footy training and will have it straightened that afternoon.
“At the moment I can still carry plates but next week it’s going to be a lot more swollen. Once I get through that I should be back,” he says, then laughs. “They’re the joys when you run your own business.”
Andrew’s business, The Outpost Café, is in the main street of Canungra, a small town that waits at the top of the range when you drive west from the Gold Coast and up into the hinterland beyond. Known as the gateway to the hinterland, Canungra’s history lies in timber milling, which is evident in the interior of Saint Luke’s Church and the Lahey’s Tramway Tunnel. The tunnel was once used to transport timber from the mountain to the town; now it’s a tourist attraction that visitors can walk through, marvelling at the hand-dug sandstone as they go.
The winding road that takes you from the Gold Coast to Canungra is one of the drawcards of the town. The scenic drive is popular with motorbike riders and car clubs especially. Other visitors take the road to visit vineyards, swimming holes and rainforest walks in Lamington National Park.
“People move to Canungra to get out of the hustle and bustle,” explains Andrew. “It’s close enough to work but far enough to feel like you’re on a holiday.”
The town of under 1,000 people is half an hour’s drive from the Gold Coast and 45 minutes’ drive from Brisbane. Its economy relies mostly on tourism.
Ask anyone what not to miss in Canungra and, apart from what’s already mentioned, they’ll mention The Outpost Café and in particular the Outpost Café’s pies.
The Outpost Café first opened its doors in 1947. Then, it serviced the army barracks, which was established in 1942 for jungle warfare training.
“The original owners of the café are called the Jope family,” says Andrew. “The father built it in ’47 and then extended in ’54. They were servicing the whole army barracks. Back then, they literally had tents out the back.”
The barracks changed and grew over time as did the café, which has since been a Golden Fleece Fuel Station and a grocery store. Now a café again, its history remains evident in its walls.
“We’ve really kept that rustic, outpost look,” says Andrew. “Even though we’ve updated we’ve tried to keep everything. I’ve even got original tools on the wall that they built the place with in ’47—hammers and saws, and an old Golden Fleece pump.”
The café has a full menu, including a range of burgers plus a unique coffee blend, but it’s the pies that people come here for.
“The Outpost would be doing 1,500 to, maybe, 2,000 pies a week on peak,” says Andrew who says things usually get going around 5am on weekdays.
“There are a lot of estates going up in Canungra so we’re open at five/five-thirty in the morning because there’s so many tradies coming through. On the weekends it all starts around seven in the morning with the motorbike riders. When the sun’s up, they’re out there enjoying the fresh air right through to about ten/eleven o’clock.
“On top of that you’ve got your car groups, like MG car clubs, and then general tourists going out for the day. We’ve also got contracts with some Asian tour buses. They bring buses from Surfers Paradise and go through to Springbrook and the hinterland. They get our pies, chips and gravy—the good old Australian meal.”
Asked what’s most popular, Andrew says it’s probably the steak, bacon and cheese pie.
“We also do a steak and kidney pie and we’ve got a steak, bacon and Guinness pie; it’s cooked in Guinness beer and people love that one—it’s something different.”
Andrew says he’s had a lot of interest from businesses wanting to sell his pies wholesale but he won’t have any of it.
“We’d love to do the pies wholesale but, honestly, we’ve seen a lot of pie places come and go and when they come out, they’re great pies, but then all of a sudden things start changing; they get bigger. The only way to reduce costs when you get bigger is to tamper with the product. That’s when your product becomes like everything else and customers soon fall off.
“I think the secret to a good pie is to stay small; that’s the main thing for us—keeping our product always at the top.”
Andrew says a reluctance to cut corners also enriches his pies.
“The meat we use comes locally from Toowoomba. We’ve got a chunky steak pie, so what you’re getting in our pies is real meat. If it’s steak and mushroom, our mushrooms are bought from a mushroom farm two minutes up the road. If it’s pepper, there’s a good hit of cracked pepper in there. That’s what people comment on.”
Andrew has resisted buying machinery to speed up production, keeping his pie process solely people-powered.
“All our pies are cut by hand. We’ve got no machine to press out the pies and no automatic filler. The pies are put in the oven by hand, taken out by hand, transferred out of the tin on the tray—it’s very old school.”
Andrew also attributes the success of The Outpost Café to his staff, including his brother Michael who co-owns the business. Faith in his staff is something that makes his upcoming surgery and following absence from work less intimidating.
“You put your faith in your staff and that’s the good thing about Canungra—you’ve got a good honest workforce there. A lot of my staff has been with us a long time and they care about the business. We look after them, so when something like this [broken hand] happens, you can have that peace of mind that the café is in good hands.”
Anne Richardson
8 February
I was wondering if Andrew played Aussie rules when he was younger with either Broadbeach or Southport and is he related to Frank Corvino?