About Us
From her childhood in the coastal town of Sriracha – yes, that Sriracha – to the heart of Chinese cooking in Taipei, through the midwestern cattle town of Oklahoma City, the Southeast Asian melting pot of Singapore, the fresh Nordic winds of Iceland, and finally here, to Melbourne, Victoria… Chanadda “Oh” Jacobs has spent the last twenty years learning the best and broadest of world cultures, cuisines, and iconic dishes.
During her recent time in Iceland, Oh worked as a corporate chef, putting unique, fusion twists on American, European, Nordic, and, of course, Thai and Chinese classics. Her “Thai Boom Boom Chilli” won twice at the Oklahoma Tinker Air Force Base chilli cook-off against very strong local competition, and her Triple Pork Kapow sandwich was voted Best Lunch Dish at her company in Reykjavik.
Now permanently settled in beautiful, quiet Docklands, just a few tram stops west of the CBD, Oh has opened her long-awaited café, Groovy Mama! Oh is herself one groovy mama, and her husband, “Daddy-O” Scott Jacobs, helped her design and create a seriously hip café serving seriously hip food – at seriously chill prices!
The Food
Every dish at Groovy Mama has a twist or something not often seen in the Melbourne area. Our dishes often star homemade cajun remoulade, homemade num jim Thai seafood sauce, authentic chorizo, anchovy sauce and pastes, and some down-home American diner weekend brunch cookin’!
While Oh has lived in many places around the world, her cuisine hails from three main regions:
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Thailand and Southeast Asia: her home and first love
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American Midwest and Cajun: fried chicken and creole sauces and rice
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Spanish and Catalonian: authentic chorizo, anchoas y boquerones, and tapas
These three cuisines have more in common than you might think! All feature rices, corn, chilis, fried or pan-fried dishes, sauces with powerful taste, and a wonderful variety of flavours and spices!
The Community
Oh and Scott are Docklands residents since arriving in-country, and regularly contribute to the enjoyment, lifestyle, and safety of the community! We take our neighbourhood and community seriously!
As spring approaches and into the summer, Groovy Mama will be hosting neighbourhood events, like a Halloween Party for kids and adults alike, coffee, chai, and tea tastings, and maybe even learn-to-cook sessions from Mama herself!
Locally, Groovy Mama is determined to support Melbourne small business.
We source our main ingredients from local producers wherever possible. Mama’s partners include:
Constance Coffee of Abbotsford: mad scientists of specialty coffee roasting
Impala and Peacock of Abbotsford: teas done differently
Grounded Pleasures of Ballarat: seriously good drinking chocolate
Gamze Smokehouse in Wangaratta: New York style pastrami and other meats
Latin Foods of Melton: authentic chorizo and South American dry goods
Bill’s Farm in Victoria Market: specialty cheeses and salumi