A family-run East End eatery has opened with the aim of making life easier for people with allergies.

Rundle General Store and Grocer is bustling when CityMag visits on a Wednesday afternoon. We notice office workers, university students and curious passerbys drawn into the recently opened daytime eatery by the colourful furniture and delicious smells escaping the kitchen.

The street-facing grocer and café has an eclectic interior, with kaleidoscopic furniture giving the store a homely and welcoming feel. Fresh produce lines the cupboards in a functional but decorative fashion.

Maya Brunner, her mum Tanya and her sister Anja opened the café on 10 February 2022, after Maya spent months establishing the brand selling cakes at Wayville’s Adelaide Farmers Market.

“I was teaching yoga, and my sister suggested that because I’m a nutritionist why don’t I start making ready meals and meals for those with allergies,” Maya says.

“[The store] provides city residences exposure to organic food that has flavour, and you can’t really find anything like that in the city.”

Rundle General Store and Grocer’s menu changes daily, with all meals created to be gluten, dairy, refined sugar, and soy free.

Patrons should expect changing fare such as pea and ham soup, vegan pumpkin gnocchi, matcha brownies, nachos and eggplant curries. We’re told General Store’s food abides by a clear ethos: simple recipes, big flavours and organic ingredients.

“I’m in love with all of our foods, our ingredients, each individual thing has such a stunning flavour – our food doesn’t need to be complex because we have so much flavour,” Tanya says.

The café has been supported by Renew Adelaide, a non-for-profit organisation providing rent-free spaces for those looking to start their first business venture, or trial a new concept store in the CBD.

“We were brand new to looking at a lease or even owing a shop…they’ve taught us in a sense how to run a shop,” Maya says.

With 1 in 70 Australians diagnosed with coeliac disease, the need for allergy-friendly restaurants, cafés and products has grown substantially. Tanya noticed the lack of options for those with gluten intolerances particularly in the city.

“We always struggled when we went into town and thought, ‘what will we do for lunch?’ There’d be nothing for us to eat. Even when we set up at the Farmers Market, we noticed that,” she says.

 

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Starting a new business isn’t easy, so the Brunner’s got creative.

They decorated the store with chairs saved from hard waste, given away on Facebook marketplace, or brought in by friends and family. The pink chair placed by the window is a favourite of Tanya’s.

“It was from a family two houses down from where we live, and the husband brought down the grandmother’s chairs that had been brought out from England,” she says.

“I said – don’t throw them out! I’m having them, they’re gorgeous!”

The story behind each item of furniture is deeply important to the Brunners. The passion for antique furniture also translates to their cooking, which has helped them connect and bond as a family.

“We always cook together at home. We are insatiable cooks – we can’t stop. Our vegetable patch is epic, we had twenty pumpkins grown last season, so we’ve always been making everything as long as I can remember,” Tanya says.

The trio hopes to expand the store even further, hiring extra staff members and providing handmade products such as socks, soaps, and essential oils. But they stay focused on providing fresh and tasty food for the postcode 5000’s locals.

“We’ve just culminated all these things we love into a shop, and this is just the beginning,” Tanya says.