Perth restaurant Peasants Paradice isn't your typical neighbourhood kitchen, but it sure is one the world needs more of.
Western Australian hospitality veterans Dwight Alexander and Justin West run the inner-city restaurant and bring their heritage to the table: Dwight of Zimbabwe-Portuguese descent and Justin of Burmese-Indian descent.
Alexander tells SBS Food, "The food at Peasants Paradice is just an expression of the multicultural experiences I had encountered and the multicultural person I have become."
"My dad's side of the family originated from South Africa with a lot of Indian influences, and my mum's side was spread out, but I always remembered the Portuguese influences food-wise from my aunt's cooking in Mozambique."
Alexander was born in Zimbabwe and spent his teen years in Auckland, New Zealand. He credits his first job (washing dishes in a Tex Mex fast-food restaurant as a 16-year-old) for igniting his passion for food.
The food at Peasants Paradice is just an expression of the multicultural experiences I had encountered and the multicultural person I have become.
After moving to Perth 13 years ago, Alexander worked at multiple venues throughout the city and soon met chef and future business partner, West. Both wanted to pay homage to their cultural backgrounds by creating homely meals influenced by family recipes that starred cheap meat cuts.
"Growing up in Zimbabwe, eating tripe, intestines, caterpillar, trotters, oxtail and so forth taught me...how food can translate into so much more," Alexander reveals.
"The idea of Peasants Paradise is bringing in those dishes and our experience and putting them into a restaurant seating."
What started as a pop-up venture has become a neighbourhood local favourite for adventurous foodies.
"It's a proud moment to give people something different and something very close to my heart."
It also regularly hosts different home-cooked events to highlight the co-founders' cultural influences. The pair hold an African curry night, which showcases curries from Central, South, East and West Africa. Curries include mafe (stew), kuku paka (chicken with coconut), and Cape Malays lamb curry.
"We served them with sides such as sadza (maize), fufu (ball of root vegetable dough), jollof rice, and biriyani rice."
It's a proud moment to give people something different and something very close to my heart.
The pair also host 'Cajun Sundays'. The Louisiana-style seafood boil up usually consists of Western Australian honey bugs, mussels, prawns, smoked sausage, corn cobs, and West's very own bay seasoning.
"The idea came from researching Creole cuisine and realising the similarities between the cuisines," Alexander says.
But it's not just the duo's myriad of flavours and clever use of cuts that draw crowds, but the philosophy that surrounds their food. They donate a percentage of their sales to support homelessness through , a Perth-based organisation that provides healthcare to homeless people.
West explains, "I grew in church and remember my dad giving away clothes, money, watches and even remember us having the homeless eat lunch with us. This pure form of humanity stuck."
The restaurant also accepts donations from the public and matches each donation received.
"Giving back has always been a part of the core ethos of the business," West says.
"We would ask people to bring stuff that many take for granted, such as toiletries, sanitary pads and sunscreen. With all those donations we collect, we would give customers a plate of food as a thank you."
Not one to miss an opportunity to give, Alexander also supports sustainability initiatives. "Anything we have left food wise we donate to [food sustainability organisation] ," Dwight says.
Is there anything this kitchen doesn't do?
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