Point Of Difference

Sydney Morning Herald

Tuesday July 3, 2007

Helen Greenwood

A strong homemade menu sets this Gladesville deli apart.

Trawling Sydney's food shops is like anthropological fieldwork. Every place tells a story about the people who go there, their habits and their likes and dislikes.

Take Slices Deli Cafe in Gladesville. It's a thoroughly modern deli with a great view and a whirlwind of an owner called Kelly Centellas.

Centellas, 34, took over this corner of the suburb's shopping village three years ago. She took the temperature of her clientele - young mothers and retirees - and gauged that for a standard deli experience, they tend to travel to Haberfield and Leichhardt. They also didn't need more supermarket-style products. So Centellas went in another direction.

She has a talented cook, Sue McCarney, who makes layered lasagnas, pumpkin and blue cheese tarts, fluffy frittatas, plump risotto cakes and buttery smoked salmon quiches for the takeaway crowd.

The cheese board is carefully curated to satisfy demand for familiar cheeses but she is quietly pushing her clientele into more interesting options, such as stronger washed rinds or more pungent white moulds.

She keeps two brands of ham, Simply the Best Gold Label for the leg and Zammit for the double-smoked. The cakes are all homemade, from the orange and fig cupcakes to the popular zucchini and walnut slice. She has even created a tea list that goes beyond the usual Earl Grey and English breakfast selections to give her shop another distinction.

Centellas is a savvy operator. She was a high-powered marketing manager with a soft drink company when she had her second child. On maternity leave, she found herself fantasising about running a gourmet cafe and deli near her Gladesville home.

When she rang the then owners to ask a few questions, she discovered they were thinking of selling. "It was meant to be."

She has introduced catering and tastings. Today, the table outside the shop has jars of homemade relish and slices of ham and bread for customers to try.

As it happens, Centellas has hospitality in her veins. Her aunt and uncle ran cafes on the Central Coast and she used to work with them as a youngster. The combination of food culture and her marketing experience means she knows how to win the hearts and palates of her customers.

"You get one first impression when it comes to food," she says, "so it has be good."

Slices Cafe Deli

Shop 15, Gladesville Shopping Village, Flagstaff Street, Gladesville, 9879 0822.

Mon-Sat, 8am-5pm; Sun, 9am-3pm.

Best buys

Pumpkin and blue cheese tart (above), $6 a slice

Grandma Lil's tomato relish, $7.95/400g

Lemon sour cream cake, $4.50 a slice

In the neighbourhood

Prime Quality Meats, Shop 3, Lower Ground Floor, Rhodes Shopping Centre, Rider Boulevard, Rhodes 8765 1547.

Craig Cook has seven shops, including the David Jones concession, with a great selection of conventional and certified organic meats and smallgoods.

Panetta Fruits, Shop 7, Gladesville Shopping Village, Flagstaff Street, Gladesville, 9817 7933.

Michael Panetta runs a professional operation, from the generous aisles to the consistently good display of market-fresh produce.

© 2007 Sydney Morning Herald

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