by Dylan Stone
Adam and Marie have been flat out since they opened Silverton’s newest café, The Shearers Cook. Officially opening in February, the business has been primed for a busy tourist season, which will include the August Mundi Mundi Bash.
Adam told the Barrier Truth that he “came from a farming background in the Upper Murray,” and that he “started shearing when I was 15 years old.” For the next 30 years, Adam worked on the family farm and continued shearing, and “travelled most parts of Australia for shearing.”
Marie, on the other hand, was “born and bred in Broken Hill.” Her father, Jim Lawson, “was a shearer and miner,” and her grandparents, “Barney and Joss Davie, owned the Family Hotel in Tibooburra for well over 20 years,” Marie added. This family experience provided Marie with the “introduction into the hospitality industry,” and she “has worked on and off in it ever since.”
The Shearer’s Cook was “our dream,” Adam mentioned. “The idea behind The Shearer’s Cook is to pay respects to those that work in the shearing industry.”
The café displays some of Adam and Marie’s personal photos from their experiences in shearing sheds around the country, “along with photos of others and their experiences.” The inspiration for the menu was simple, Marie noted, because “through our extensive travel, we always found a good ol’ home cooked meal in the sheds, this is what is on offer at The Shearer’s Cook.”
Adam mentioned that the previous owners, Marg and Brian Edwards, left the pair with “big shoes to fill… (because) their food was amazing!” Adam plans to “pay respect to them through our food,” to recognise “the work they had done over the years.”
Adam and Marie have some grand plans for the business, with Adam confirming that “soon we will open up the house and courtyard for all to view and enjoy.” As Adam and Marie plan on growing their business, they acknowledged and thanked “Mia Degomouis from Packsaddle Roadhouse and Jo Lindsay from Little Topar (Roadhouse) for their amazing advice, support and friendship, (as well as) Warren Brown the Cartoonist (and) TV Personality for designing our logo.”
Adam and Marie told the Barrier Truth that people can contact The Shearer’s Cook by phone on 0487 289 691, by email at [email protected], or you can drop into 8 Stirling St, Silverton, NSW, 2880 and grab a meal at The Shearers Cook.
