The zucchini omelette returns!
After a near 12-month absence, brother and sister team Rob and Michelle Costanzo are
coming back to the markets, along with their ever-popular menu of rustic, hearty food
informed by their Sicilian heritage.
In 2023, Rob broke his Achilles heel, and that put an end to their market stall, to pumping
out cauliflower omelettes and tarte tatins and big breakfasts – generally to long queues of
faithful followers. While the irrepressible Rob ‘did not enjoy my “break” of my achilles’, he
tells me that he ‘had a good time working on the winery at Jilly’ as well as ‘making salami
with Salumi (Australia)’. As for Michelle, yes, she missed doing the markets, but she
managed to pack in time spent in Ireland with her partner’s family, a new baby, and being in
her garden.
While younger sibling Rob worked in London’s fabled River Café, Michelle too always found
herself working in the industry. ‘I spent a long time working in Ireland at a seafood
restaurant and looking after the gardens,’ she tells me, ‘which satisfied both my passions.’
What began many years ago as a modest market stall in Byron dispensing her family’s
produce – produce from the abundant Stanthorpe farm – morphed gradually into Nomadic
Kitchen when Rob, back from his stint overseas, joined forces with his sister. ‘The stall is
where we have stayed’, Michelle says now. ‘It has been so successful in fulfilling what we
love about food and cooking.’ That love shines through all the dishes, dishes inspired by
‘seeing all the produce around us and deciding what to do with it. Because we are able to
change it every markets, it’s very creative, which is fun.’
Nomadic Kitchen will be at New Brighton every Tuesday from 8 – 11am as of late February.
Victoria Cosford
