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24 GOURMET TRAVELLER

News

Root cause

A top Brisbane chef goes total vegan, with two new venues.

Alejandro Cancino knows his peers are

scratching their heads.Why would the

vegan chef quit a job running Urbane,

Queensland’s top-ranked fine diner, just

to avoid cooking meat?

Not only is Cancino striking out on

his own – leaving Brisbane’s The Urbane

Group, which also runs Urbane’s starred

bistro sibling The Euro – he and his wife

Paola are self-funding their new plant-

based project on the Sunshine Coast.

He says people think he’s crazy for

opening a vegan restaurant in the middle

of nowhere. “And yes, I am a dreamer,”

says Cancino. “But I’m also a doer.”

Their 30-seat vegan café, Lola’s

Kitchen, is due to open in mid-August

in a shopping strip at Kuluin, a small

suburb west of Maroochydore. It’s named

after their daughter: her birth last June

inspired the couple’s decision. The

menu will reflect what the family eats at

home. Cancino mentions gnocchi with

minestrone, tempeh mash with cabbage,

avocado on toast with sesame cheese or,

perhaps, a house-baked fruit loaf. “It will

be food I am proud to serve my daughter.”

In March next year, they’ll also open

a high-end eight-seat vegan restaurant,

trading only three nights a week. “I hope

that I’ll be doing something interesting

enough that people will drive to the

Sunshine Coast,” says Cancino. “It’s only

100 people a month.” Unlike the café,

the fine-dining restaurant will explicitly

be pushed as a vegan establishment.

“I want to highlight plant-based cuisine

as something that is real and happening,”

says Cancino. “A movement started.”

Fiona Donnelly

Golden EagleIf an Imperial Suite wasn’t quite

lavish enough, an entire private carriage

withitsownkitchen,chefandguidewas

launched last month on the Golden Eagle’s

Trans-Siberian journeys. This epic route covers

11,000 kilometres in two weeks between

Moscow and Vladivostok, largely following the

Trans-Siberian railway. The new Romanov Suite

has two bedrooms (one with a king bed), two

ensuites and a lounge-dining room. All other

cabins and the bar-lounge car have been

refurbished recently.goldeneagleluxurytrains.

Train Suite Shiki-ShimaJapan’s most luxurious

train is among its slowest, running at third of the

speed of the fastest bullet train. Launched last

May, the Shiki-Shima travels north from Tokyo

through the regions of Kanto, Tohoku and

Hokkaido,carryingguestsinjust17suites

evoking traditional Japanese aesthetics. Two

futuristic white observation cars bookend

thetrain,andarestaurantcarserveslauded

seasonal menus on exquisite tableware. Some

suites have tatami-mat floors, deep baths of

hinoki cypress, and glass fireplaces.jreast.co.jp

Venice Simplon-Orient-ExpressJourneys on

this legendary train have, until recently, meant

travellingjustasguestsdidinthe1920s–with

no showers, one toilet per carriage and hand

basins in each of the 88 double and 11 single

cabins. Three Grand Suites launched in March

have private bathrooms with showers, double

beds and living rooms, and the option of

in-room dining. Fittings are inspired by the

train’s original Art Deco features, including

Venetian glass, embossed leather and

marquetry.belmond.com

THREE OF THE BEST

Luxury rail journeys

The most luxurious carriages have new features that evoke the past and future of train travel.

PHOTOGRAPHY GETTY IMAGES (TRAIN SUITE SHIKI-SHIMA), JASON LOUCAS (INUA) & RODNEY MACUJA (ABSOLUT)