RBWH Café Royale Team Member Lily

The former Mexican Bar has been rebranded as the Mediterranean Bar, and now offers the ability for customers to create their own meal like souvlaki wraps or spartan boxes (a gathering of delicious favourites from the Mediterranean Bar). However, Chef Dawn knew there was still something missing.

One day, Café Royale team member Lilijana (Lily) brought an amazing array of homecooked foods from her home city Sarajevo. The kifla breads stuffed with feta cheese and the stuffed capsicums instantly inspired Dawn. She spent the day with Lily learning the background and methods for recipes that are culturally special to Lily.

“Lily’s love language is food – she cooks from the heart. She is from Sarajevo in former Yugoslavia and has suffered great hardships in the 90s when her family lost all their possessions,” said Dawn.

“She left with nothing but her handbag and recipe book – the very same book she has taught me her recipes from.

“To be able to learn Lily’s recipes and apply them to a commercial kitchen production environment has been an incredibly humbling experience and has provided me with a new appreciation for what the human spirit can do and achieve.

“I’m proud to be serving up Lily’s recipes for the wider RBWH community to enjoy.”

Thank-you Lily for sharing your delicious recipes and your beautiful story with all of RBWH!