local hero
COME AS YOU ARE
If a bar’s at capacity almost every night, then you can bet the owners are doing something right. Gail Williams meets Juanita’s head chef Luke Foyle. Images TABARAK SALMAN
W
hen Luke Foyle took over Juanita’s humble kitchen, he felt like he had stepped into a pair of comfortable old slippers. What made him so happy was a sandwich press, a domestic hotplate and a bench top deep fryer, all vastly different to the equipment he used in a former life as a fine dining chef at one of Perth’s top restaurants. (A)lure at Crown Perth was where, as a teenager, Foyle mastered the art of cooking with sous vide machines, teppanyaki grills, pizza ovens, blast chillers and blade flame cook tops. But 14 years on, while
14 EXPLORE SUBIACO
labouring day and night with his two business partners to freshen up their new bar venture, he rekindled his love affair with Subiaco and chucked his ego out the door. And without any whizzbang gadgetry or industry awards to vie for, he’s as happy as a puppy with a pig’s ear. “I was born in Subi and lived here until I was two before the family moved to Albany,” he says. “So coming back was like coming home. I couldn’t be happier than I am now. I love the community atmosphere here, regulars dropping in
who have become friends. And I love churning out the food I like with the basic equipment I have got.” Foyle – and his business partners, Jeremy Diaz and Anthony Princi who he previously worked with at Bivouac – are part of a new breed of hip hospitality dudes breathing new life into Rokeby Road while discovering its many charms.
When the trio bought Juanita’s from Murray Gill and Juanita Hille last December they found themselves in good company – Patrick Ryan and Jeremy Prus (Dilly Dally), Paul and Jaycinta Zammit (Lady of Ro), Dave Allan and Lawson Douglas (Subi Hotel) and, most recently, Larry Cherubino (Cherubino’s City Cellar). What do they all bring to the ‘Make Subi Cool
