Kim Evans: Treats from Little and Friday.
“Recipes are the accumulation of a life spent with food.”
As a toddler Kim sat in on her mother’s Home Economics classes. A fine arts graduate she baked sweet goods to sell in exchange for art supplies. Years later she took her home baking to weekend markets to build up a following before she started the first Little and Friday bakery with her daughter, friends and just $3000. With a plan to open ‘only on Fridays’ and with a ‘little’ range in 2007, this blossomed into four stores and cafes, open seven days by late 2015.
Little and Friday’s philosophy embraces community, from customers gifting mismatching cups, saucers and plates to communal tables and neighbourhood locations to the use of local organic free range goods whenever possible. Kim believes in sharing her food joy. Recipes adapted from old favourites or traditional recipes with a twist allow home cooks to recreate the treats from Little and Friday cafes. Kitchen Notes pepper the book, sharing tips and tricks and providing useful insights.
While you can still peek through the windows and watch the bakers making everything from scratch, if you get the chance to attend one of Kim’s cake workshops grab it with both hands – it’s a delight to watch her create stunning cakes in front of your eyes. While others might shy away from revealing bakery secrets, Kim loves sharing her recipes and giving others the opportunity to create her sweet and savoury dishes for themselves.
The symbolic photography in the book emulates the Little and Friday premise perfectly. Cafe style plating using that gifted crockery and rows of mouth-watering treats like you see at the counter. A sense of community is projected through images of shared tables of people in the cafes, kids having fun playing hopscotch on the pavement outside and dogs drooling with doe-like eyes.
Kim employs people who love the Little and Friday philosophy and who genuinely love food. “You can teach baking,” she says “but you can’t teach passion.”
For more information on Kim Evans and Little and Friday: