Simon Novak arrived in the Murchison as a cook for an exploration crew, a job he expected to last a single season. It lasted twenty years. He fed drillers, surveyors, shearers and the occasional geologist from a camp kitchen mounted on the back of a truck, and he learned that people remember a hot meal in the middle of nowhere longer than they remember almost anything else.
What he did not find, in all those years, was a place in Meekatharra where a traveller could sit at a proper table, order a proper meal and spend the remainder of the evening in good company. The idea of such a room stayed with him on every long drive along the Great Northern Highway. When the old drapery on High Street came on the market, he went to look at it, and did not need a second visit.
The building was thick-walled, deep-verandahed and almost empty. The pressed-metal ceiling had survived, along with two fine cedar counters and a set of tall shuttered windows, and the back rooms, long and shadowed, seemed to be waiting for a purpose. Simon decided that the front would be a dining room and the back a casino room, laid out for roulette, blackjack and poker, and that the two would carry equal weight.
He was clear from the outset about what the casino room should not be. There would be no machines, no wagering and no prizes. Chips would be worth nothing outside the room, and every table would be attended by a trained dealer. The purpose was company: a means for people who had driven for hours, or who worked rosters far from home, to spend an evening together without hurry.
The kitchen followed the same principle. Trevor Rossi, who had once been Simon's assistant in the camp kitchen, was invited to run it, and the menu was built around what the district could supply. Saltbush lamb and station beef came first, vegetables chosen for their ability to survive a long journey came second, and the puddings, as Simon put it, were a matter of conscience.
The house opened modestly, with a handful of tables and a printed card, and has grown with the same caution. Simon remains involved in an advisory capacity and may still be found at the pass on Saturdays, tasting the gravy. The venue is operated by WAFFLE ADVERTISING LTD, 85 Great Portland Street, London W1W 7LT, United Kingdom.
