A little deli bakery with big ideas: meet Sourdog Provisions

Posted on 27 April, 2022

A little deli bakery with big ideas has always been on the menu for the foodie forces behind Project Enoki, but it wasn’t until their beloved dog became sick that they realised they needed to stop dreaming and start planning.

Taking the leap and opening their very first eatery, Sourdog Provisions (a play on the word sourdough and a homage to their dog Autumn Rose) is the latest passion project from Gerald Ong and Esther Loke as they take the leap to live a more intentional life focussed on good food, good people and good actions.

And unlike the popular Verity Lane pop-up, the friendly neighbourhood deli, bakery, and providore is here to stay. 

Featuring a rotating menu of sourdoughs, flatbreads, buns, pastries, cakes, and cookies baked daily by Esther as well as seasonal produce-driven salads, roasted vegetables and meats, Sourdog Provisions is different from your typical Canberra bakery and deli. 

Designed to be a space to gather with friends and enjoy the deli specialties and artisanal provisions, the Nicholls location ticks all the boxes (including free parking and a dog-friendly atmosphere) and offers a feast for the eyes as the duo displays the mouth-watering spread of food available in a glass countertop. 

Almond and buckwheat chocolate tort with hazelnut mousseline anyone?

With an ever-changing menu reflecting the seasons and inspired by local producers, the menu offers food lovers choices like rustic fougasse (the French cousin of the Italian focaccia), Barossa Valley ham, cheddar, and fragrant spiced zhug toasties, flatbread topped with vegetables (think pumpkin, spinach, and feta), cinnamon buns and more. Batch brewed coffee, teas, and hot chocolates will also be on offer, perfect for cold Canberra mornings. 

If that’s not enough, the lunch menu includes an a range of delicious options like cumin roasted pumpkin, toasted pepitas, and almonds in brown butter and lemon, 12 hour cooked lamb shoulder with chimichurri, fig, Meredith Dairy feta, honey and rocket salad as well as a couple of pies and sausage rolls for good measure. 

Made in-house, takeaway sourdough loaves and cakes will also be available for when you want to grab and go, including the iconic Project Enoki burnt basque cheesecake. 

The iconic whole basque burnt cheesecake.

“The Enoki team is back together, so boys are back in town as they say,” says Gerald. “But the biggest difference [with Sourdog Provisions] is the menu collaboration and focus.”

“Enoki was 90% me pushing Southeast Asian food and it was a very good time for us but we also realised through the experience that we created a very strong and bonded team…We decided to have a more collaborative approach to the menu this time. I think it’s actually better than the past project because this collaboration is leveraging all our strengths.”

In-house baked flatbread with Barossa Valley ham, melting chedder and a fragrantly spiced Yemenite inspired green sauce called zhug.

Gerald, formerly the sous chef at Chairman and Yip, and Esther, formerly head pastry chef at Pialligo Estate, had planned to continue working for others until they were ready for retirement but after experiencing two COVID-19 lockdowns and caring for Autumn, they knew it was time seize the day when the perfect location presented itself.

“Life is not always very predictable. The idea of this deli and bakery was going to be our retirement,” explains Esther. 

“But because of everything that happened over the past couple of years, and because we chanced upon this spot, we were like, ‘You know what, let’s just try.’ Life is pretty short and very uncertain, so we decided to go ahead and do it.”

With Autumn taking it one day at a time and supervising as her paw-rents create the ideal place to nurture sustainable communities, Gerald and Esther are baking their new motto into everything they do, including their supply chain and their outlook on the environment.

“We’ve always been thinking about sustainability since Project Enoki,” explains Esther. “And so from that, it came to how we can actually nurture sustainable communities? Not just within the industry, but also extended to farmers and producers.”

This cumin roasted pumpkin & almonds in brown butter is just one lunch offering.

Working closely with local producers including Hundred Acres Produce in Hall (and currently looking to collaborate with more), every aspect of Sourdog Provisions goes back to the duo’s values: good food, good people, and good actions.

“It goes back to our mission statements on how we want to conduct ourselves, how we want to run things, how we would like to interact with people and the environment. It’s living our best life every day by practicing our mantra,” says Esther. 

Now open for dine-in or takeaway as well as catering, a trip to Nicholls for good food from good people has never sounded…well, so good.

Photography: Parv Kapoor