It’s been a busy year for the 5 times world record breaking Olympian. In 2011, Cleo magazine announced Eamon as their Bachelor of the Year, he took out first place in Celebrity MasterChef, opened a café in Perth and released his own cookbook. In amongst this, he has been in the pool a bit too. He’s hot property! Café Culture caught up with Eamon for a quick chat about life and his new café, Louis Baxters.

We hear that the café is owned and operated by Eamon Sullivan and Laki Baker.  You’re an Olympic swimmer, so I guess the café is not your ‘day job’?
No, it is definitely not my day job! I am spending my days in Sydney training for London next year. However, it is something that I am planning on spending a lot of time in, once I have finished my swimming career. Because I am still based in Sydney, so far I have only spent a few days working there, but I’ve created the food menu.

Business partner Laki Baker is a freelance TV Producer. Is Laki a ‘foodie’ … and how did you strike up the relationship?
I met Laki on the set of Celebrity MasterChef; she was my Producer on the show. So we spent quite a lot of hours chatting and time wasting in between filming and realised we both had a lot in common.
We were both born in Perth, we both wanted French Bulldogs, and we both wanted to open a café in Perth. After filming was finished, she was in my area quite a bit for work, so we caught up every now and then for a coffee and a chat. When Laki mentioned she was moving back to Perth, we thought, “Why not do a joint venture!”

French Bulldogs: Louis Pierre Baker and Baxter Sullivan. Was this a coincidence? Did you already both have French Bulldogs when you met?
No we didn’t, but we both wanted them. I had been looking for a breeder for quite a while, then the next time I caught up with Laki, I met Louis Pierre and demanded to know where she got him from! So we both ended up having French Bulldogs from the same breeder, and that’s where the café’s name came from.

How easy was the process of finding a location, designing and building the café?
The easiest part was the concept for us; we both knew exactly what we wanted. Within a week of having the idea to open Louis Baxters, we had locked in the location (found it within 30 minutes of having the idea), 90% of our suppliers and knew exactly what interior we wanted! It was the actual fit out and Council approvals that took time and a lot of effort! But we are so happy with the result; it looks better than we expected.

What is the style of the café – aesthetics and food philosophy?
The café has a converted warehouse feel to it. We basically wanted a raw/industrial look with some features that pop off the blank canvas. We tore down the ceiling to expose all the water pipes and electrical cables running through; we have polished concrete floors and a rust treated wall that looks like the pipes coming out of the wall have been leaking. Our food philosophy is pretty simple: fresh, local and quality products all made on site every day – from 12 hour slow cooked pork belly sliders with crackling, to 6 hour slow roasted lamb sandwich with caramelised onion and chimichurri. We wanted to bring something a bit different than your normal sandwich to the table, and we think the extra effort and cooking times are worth it!

What’s on the menu at the moment? Do you change your menu seasonally?
At the moment we have a breakfast and lunch menu. Breakfast muffins change every day, but include chocolate balsamic and raspberry and fig and salted caramel. Hot items: such as Quinoa Porridge, 60 minute soft boiled egg and Spanish baked eggs with chorizo. For lunch we do: 12 hour pork belly slider with apple and fennel slaw and crackling; 6 hour slow roasted lamb sandwich with chimichurri and caramalised onion; and slow poached chicken with goats curd, avocado and salad. We have only been open a few weeks, but there will be a few items that change seasonally.

Tell us a little about how you became so interested in cooking. Was it that you were always hungry after so much swimming? How did you get so good at it? Are you a qualified chef, or did swimming take over?
I was quite a fussy eater growing up, but when I went to high school I got so hungry because of training so much, I started doing home economics so I could eat more! From there, I started trying different things I refused at home, and my love grew from there. I started taking recipes home to cook for the family and reading a lot of cook books and watching cooking shows. I am not a qualified chef at all, I am definitely an amateur home cook, who loves experimenting and learning new things.

How did the MasterChef guys find you? How did you fit the show in around your busy schedule?
It was during a down period of training for me, so I was a bit flexible, luckily. The filming only took about 2 weeks, and I was able to fit in some training around those filming times.

They put out an application form to a lot of management groups around town, and I was lucky enough to get through that process and they chose me to compete on the show.

How did you know about Campos Coffee, and why did you choose this coffee roaster for your café?
Having lived in Sydney for 3 years now, I have café hopped my way around pretty much every suburb. After having Campos at numerous cafés and hearing about people loving their coffee in Brisbane too, I knew if would be a good idea to take a new brand over to Perth.

And that is the sort of attitude I have put towards my swimming for over 10 years, so I know that with Campos behind our café, we will have great support to deliver a good product.

Coffee – caffeine: do you drink much coffee, or do you need to be careful due to testing?
Caffeine has been on and off the drug testing lists – and right now is 100% legal. I really enjoy a good coffee, but I definitely don’t rely on it to get me up in the morning.

Earlier this year you trained in San Louis Potosi in Mexico. You mentioned you were surprised by the food, as it was not what you expected. Did you have time to explore the local cuisine and take some of that knowledge back into your café?
Yeah, I guess I never realised how westernised the Mexican food is here in Australia. What we called burritos and tacos were completely different over there. They don’t use the crispy corn shells for tacos over there; they are all fresh mini tortillas with cheaper cuts of slow braised pork or beef. I was inspired by the flavours and ways of presenting their food, but I don’t think it fits in to Louis Baxters’ vibe – unless you went for a Mexican stlye café!

You travel a lot. Do you take this opportunity to explore the local cuisine and get some ideas for your café?
Definitely. I travel up to 5 – 6 months a year. And more so these days, find myself checking out new and different ways to have coffee and different types of food being produced in different countries. For me it’s all about providing something out of the ordinary and something you haven’t tried before.

What is your favourite cuisine or favourite dish/recipe?
I don’t think I have a favourite anything with food; I go through phases of different cravings. But anything with protein is something I could never give up. Slow roasted meats in winter, or Brazilian BBQs in summer.

What is your style of coffee?
I chop and change in between latte, short black and ristrettos.

Which chef/s inspire you?
Heston Blumenthal is probably my favourite chef at the moment; the theatre and the sense of fun he brings to his food is something I try to emulate. But over the years I grew up watching the two fat ladies, Floyd, and Jamie Oliver – all great chefs.

What does the future hold – post London 2012?
Not too sure as yet; I don’t like to predict the future. But I can smell coffee and taste pork belly for sure!

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