The Hideaway Lane secret is out
The Moran family has brought new life to the art deco space, taking on the lease in July 2022 and opening their culinary school and events space in September 2022
Hideaway Lane is a new foodie establishment on the site of the 50-year Wollongong institution Hideaway Cafe. Remembered fondly by locals as the best place for iced chocolates and spiders, Hideway Cafe was set in a 1930s building down a short laneway on Church Street, just south of Crown Street Mall.
The Moran family has brought new life to the art deco space, taking on the lease in July 2022 and opening their culinary school and events space in September 2022.
Toni Moran, who grew up in Wollongong, remembers being taken to the “posh” cafe and was excited by the prospect of bringing new life to the space she visited as a child. The family – Toni, husband Rob, and son Bray – worked solidly for three months, recreating the vintage feel while bringing it into the 21st century with a state-of-the-art commercial kitchen.
The Morans are not new to the hospitality business, having owned and operated wedding venue Flavours of the Valley (now Wildwood) in Kangaroo Valley for 20 years. After fires, the pandemic and floods that effectively closed the business for three years, they decided to sell up in the Valley and make the move back to the coast to be nearer to family.
Toni’s background is in food technology and hospitality teaching. Her first love is cookery teaching, so her plans were to open Hideaway Lane as a culinary school. However, as high teas took off, now the two run side-by-side. Bray is the head chef and will eventually take over the business, but for now Toni is working alongside Bray in the establishment phase.
The family has a background in volunteering (Toni and Rob travelled the world with their young children doing humanitarian work) and a strong sense of community underpins their business. During Covid, when Flavours of the Valley was unable to operate, Toni and her team partnered with a food rescue service in Nowra to cook meals for those in need.
Food waste minimisation is vital in the new venture, as is integration with the local community. They are already looking for partnerships with local artisan makers to share the space, local growers and producers for fresh produce supply, and food rescue services and charities to support.
I visited Toni and Bray as they were preparing for a molecular gastronomy corporate cooking class. Bray studied chemistry at the University of Wollongong, so it is here that he can bring his science training into the kitchen. The menu is a three-course meal with dishes such as carrot “air” and walnut soil to be prepared and enjoyed by the corporate group.
Walking into the laneway from the busyness of central Wollongong, I am immersed in a leafy, peaceful courtyard with the long table set with white linen for the incoming group. Close the gate behind us and we could be in Rome (the Morans have Italian heritage). I am told that the lush plants that adorn the space are “on loan” from Toni’s mum. Up a few stairs into the main dining area and I am transported to the 1930s with a cosy art deco lounge setting to one side and the rest of the room set up with cooking stations, menus and recipes at the ready.
Vintage high teas are available on the last weekend of every month.
Cooking classes are available, mostly with Mediterranean themes, or you can book a private class with your family, friends or colleagues.
Other private events are available on enquiry.
Hideaway Lane is BYO.
