Faces and Food – Baden Evans of Tempus Katoomba

Spirited away in the misty mountains of the Blue Mountains, the charming town of Katoomba perches itself as the community hub steeping in art, panoramic views and delicious food. Tempus Katoomba is a restaurant that came out of the challenging period of the COVID-19 pandemic intent on delivering a dining ethos that’s steeped in ensuring sustainability and having a valuable connection to the community.

I went in on a  lovely Saturday afternoon back in April to have lunch and was quite stunned. The menu was short but varied enough to cater for all tastes. The decor is of a minimalist design. The space is adorned with wooden tables and chairs whilst plants with long vines are suspended from the roof to give the restaurant a rustic charm. I felt like I was eating in the warm kitchen of someone’s home. I chatted with Tempus’s co-owner, Baden Evans, to discuss Tempus’s role in Katoomba, how it intends to deliver on sustainability and how it all came together.

How long have you been around?

Baden: “We’ve been open 15 mins I think. We signed the first week after the lockdown when we thought it was going to last 2 weeks. It ended lasting four months but it ended up being a blessing in disguise. It gave us more time to renovate and do more research into our menu.”

How did Tempus start?

Baden: “So, I’m one of the three co-owners. We’ve all been in and out of hospitality for a while. I almost stopped doing hospitality because of the first COVID-19 experience. I thought about pursuing landscaping and a mutual friend brought up the idea of opening a restaurant together and that’s how it came together. This spot opened up and we thought it was perfect. This space wasn’t a restaurant before so we were able to build it how we needed it.” 

Tell us about the menu. It’s got quite a mix there in terms of cuisines. 

Baden: “Jason our head chef came up with the menu and we regularly consult to see what’s working and not working. We regularly talk about dishes we’ve tried and we try to create our own spin on it. A lot of the dishes we’ve done in previous experiences but we are always looking to experiment. A lot of our dishes will have the main ingredients like burrata and kingfish but we like to mix up the way present it and match it.”

Do you use local suppliers?

Baden: “A lot of our producers are in Australia and we give preference to producers who are prioritising sustainability and waste minimisation techniques. We have orange tequila that’s made out of orange peel waste from juice production. 

We try to keep the same preferences with our food. With food, it can be a bit harder because a lot of the growers grow in small quantities. There is a group called Farm it Forward who have plots all over the Blue Mountains and we try to get our vegetables through them. We use fish vendors who are using sustainable practices and make the trip daily to Sydney fish markets.”

How often do you change up the menu? 

Baden: “We like to rotate the menu seasonally and maybe more frequently than that. Every 2 or 3 weeks we’ll change a couple of dishes so the menu gets changed every couple of months. Some ingredients don’t last a full season so some of our producers will give us whatever is in ‘season’. 

Yeah, for example, I heard some vegetables only have like a 6 week yield right? 

Baden: “Yeah exactly so we try to take advantage of what’s good at the moment and we try to keep it fresh and interesting. By the time the next year comes along, you’ll see the same ingredients but we’ll prepare it differently so we’re always trying to do things differently. 

Whatever we don’t use completely, we like to dehydrate it or pickle it as a way of extending their life. It’s part of our philosophy of making sure nothing goes to waste. There are heaps of local farmers who will give us a bunch of vegetables, like zucchinis, that cannot be sold so we’ll take them and find a creative way to use them.” 

What was it like trying to open it during COVID? 

Baden: “Oh yeah, it was nerve-racking definitely. We were looking for spaces just before the second lockdown and we had spent so much time looking for the plot that we liked. When we finally did the lockdown happened. The agent suggested signing the lease after the lockdown but we figured since the lockdown was two weeks, we may as well renovate. The lockdown ended up being four months as we know… but as I said before it ended up being a blessing as we renovated. Menu-wise, we had been through four iterations so we were ready. It was tough financially, we had to be trading but we got there in the end. If anything, COVID taught us to be dynamic and more resilient.” 

How has the community responded to you? 

Baden: “The community has been so supportive up here. Musicians and other businesses have been through here. We’ve been able to support the other businesses as well. Katoomba isn’t a large town but we have so many diverse businesses and industries here. The population has changed somewhat as well. People who were living in the city have started to come back now that they’re able to work from home. So we are seeing that demand for more upscale dining so the Blue Mountains is a really exciting space to see right now.”

The interview ends there and a flurry of Tempus’s dishes comes out. The menu was an absolute treat and you can really see the diversity in the offerings. There is no one set ‘cuisine’ and I think it’s absolutely appropriate for the modern approach they’re taking in an area like Katoomba. I look forward to my return to see how their restaurant and menu will evolve.