Kynefin’s picnic spread making global waves

Posted on 25 November, 2020

Setting up a small café in the sleepy village of Hall does not automatically indicate a desire for world domination.

And yet the tiny Hall café of Kynefin has managed to go viral with its utterly adorable ‘Afternoon Picnic Tea’ which comes to the table on a miniature picnic table and hold a delicious array of handmade bakery treats and drinks

North Englishman Geoff Whittall won’t lay claim to inventing the concept, but he has imported it to Australia.

“I’d seen a few tiny picnic table set-ups back in the UK and decided I would introduce it here. I didn’t know it would be so popular but I am glad to see it is!” he said.

 

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Having settled in Hall with his Canberra-bred wife Kate Herrington and two young children, Geoff may be better known to many as the genius baker behind those addictive Bombolini Doughnuts which revolutionised the way we appreciate the middle of doughnut (filled with deicious jellies and custards rather than air!).

More than two years ago, Geoff decided to move on from market life (he did the rounds of a Capital Region Farmers Market, Southside Farmers Market, Handmade Markets and others) and establish his own little place—Kynefin, which means “where you feel at home” in Welsh and which is pronounced KIn-ev-in.

It seats just 40 inside and 30 outside prior to COVID distancing requirements and Geoff said it had been a pretty tough year.

Yet a few lucky strikes on social media has seen this tiny place hit the limelight, namely a post from Food Porn Journal which happened to visit earlier in November and then a spread in the UK’s Daily Mail.

“What? We were in the Daily Mail? I haven’t seen it,” he said.

And yet orders for picnic table feasts are coming in waves.

“Actually I was wondering why that was. It has been pretty busy! And yes, you definitely need to book,” he said.

He then adds that it will be lovely for his UK family to see the article in amidst the gloom of lockdown.

While the café provides a wide array of delicious treats and savoury food, those wanting the picnic set-up will need to make room for quite a selection, including pies, sausage rolls, a little toastie and some chips. And then the selection of sweet treats including the famed Bombolini doughnuts.

 

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You wash it all down with tea or coffee and mini-shakes and juices. The spread comes in at $45 a head and feeds two adults. But as a dad, Geoff knows that sometimes tiny stomachs fill fast, so there is a $10 add on to feed kids (small ones, not the growing teenaged types, he adds).

“We’ve not done any marketing apart from our own social media, so it has been really exciting to be picking up more and more orders. It is also really gratifying to bring something special to Hall, and to Canberra and we are so grateful for the support.”