Blak Cede Gunyah, located in the New South Wales South Coast city of Nowra, is serving up more than just good food; it's serving community and culture.

The thriving Aboriginal women-led social and cultural enterprise uses high-quality native ingredients sourced from its community garden for its café and online store.

From pulled buru (kangaroo) nachos, strawberry gum scones, and wattleseed hollandaise, each dish at Blak Cede Gunyah is an expression of its seed-to-table philosophy.

Paired with culturally safe workplace practices and inclusive employment opportunities, Blak Cede Gunyah exemplifies community health, cultural reinvestment and Indigenous economic empowerment.

Cafe manager Melanie Williams, from the Wreck Bay Aboriginal community in the Yuin Nation, and Blak Cede Gunyah's e-commerce coordinator and marketing manager, Marley Ashby, a proud Koori woman from the Jerrinja, Cullunghutti and Wandi Wandian communities, spoke with National Indigenous Times about Blak Cede Gunyah's journey and what lies ahead for the business.

From idea to reality

As the brainchild of a Waminda yarning circle nine years ago, Blak Cede Gunyah is part of Waminda's ongoing initiative to challenge and disrupt practices, beliefs, and barriers it says discriminate against and marginalise Aboriginal peoples and communities, and ensure Aboriginal voices are heard and supported.

"The initial idea came from a yarning circle of Aboriginal women in Waminda who had type two diabetes...it was about educating our Aboriginal women with that type two diabetes, teaching them how to plant and harvest and cook sustainable food without spiking their type two sugar levels." Ms Williams said.

Ms Ashby said Blak Cede Gunyah is supporting the region's Aboriginal women.

"It's about empowering Koori women from the Shoalhaven area on the South Coast and New South Wales to lead self-determined lives by providing culturally safe employment and educational opportunities," she said.

From opening its doors in April 2024, it has since flourished into a popular Nowra eatery, unique for its culturally centred and health-conscious menu and practices.

It proved so popular that just weeks after opening, Blak Cede Gunyah made plans to expand the cafe space.

"Immediately we knew the space wasn't big enough, so only four weeks later we secured the shop next door to expand both the kitchen preparation space and seating area for customers," their website states.

Since opening, Blak Cede Gunyah has also scored major achievements, including "Outstanding New Business" at the 2025 Shoalhaven Business Chamber Awards, Best Coffee by 94.9 FM 2024 Shoalhaven's Best Awards, and State Finalist in the 2025 Telstra Best of Business Awards.

"Look, it's absolutely amazing. You know, we've only been gone for 17 months, and the accolades that the cafe is receiving from community and state awards are phenomenal," Ms Ashbys aid.

"If you're a non-Indigenous person, you won't walk into Waminda's office and understand the back-end work that they do. So it's the bit of recognition that the service gets, and it's exactly what it deserves, because our heart and soul went into it."

Unapologetically Aboriginal

Walking into Blak Cede Gunyah, the cafe is unapologetic in its expression of Aboriginal culture. From its award-winning architecture to the furniture and decor, to the menu, everything about the space is purposeful.

"The woods been upcycled from the bushfires down the coast, the seating is covered in kangaroo leather. We've got the lampshades that tell the Seven Sisters dreaming," Ms Ashby said, describing the cafe's interior.

"All our products and merchandise that we have in store, you know, you've got all your truth-telling books, we've got our own language around slogans, our menu is based on the language that we've grown up with.

"It's a very purposeful, unapologetic space for community. You know, you'll hear our music playing. You'll see our walls are covered in our Aboriginal art. So it gives Aboriginal community members with micro- businesses the opportunity to showcase their artwork."

Blak Cede Gunyah's cultural values are also reflected in its workplace, where staff development, mentorship, and community wellbeing are prioritised alongside high-quality dishes.

"It's about the investment into a young community, so focusing on their social, emotional, mental health and their well-being," Ms Williams said.

"Most of these young women that I work beside each day I case managed in our youth program, and now to be able to walk alongside those women with paid employment, and they can have opportunities like housing, financial support and taking care of their health.

"When they're working in other organisations, you turn up late three times, and then you're told to walk out the door. But instead of that, we invest in these young ones and find out what is it that's going on for them? You know, look at their future, and what it is that they want, they want to do in their professional career and support them in getting all the qualifications and training that they need.

"So it's a space where, you know, you take pride in your culture and your workplace, and it gives these young people a sense of belonging, which is extremely important for us."

Seed-to-table philosophy

What most people remember about Blak Cede Gunyah is the food. Focusing on native ingredients sourced from Waminda's Kareela Ngura community garden, each menu item is centred on Blak Cede's seed-to-plate philosophy.

"It's about reinvesting into native foods," Ms Williams said.

"We look at what grows in what seasons for us, and then what the menu looks like from what we can grow and harvest in that time. So you know, things like your finger limes, your lemon myrtle, your pepperberry, saltbush, or edible flowers. We've got our own bees set up for native honey.

"We also have an amazing partnership with a place in Kangaroo Valley that supports us in terms of planting and seeding, growing, and harvesting food to support the cafe as well."

Planning the specials is also guided by community health and cultural exchange, ensuring each dish is diabetic-friendly and low-carb while remaining grounded in Aboriginal knowledge systems.

"So like this morning, for instance, we were just about to turn over our specials," Ms Williams said.

"Because we come from a health perspective as well, Aboriginal communities live with high rates of chronic illness, so we always make sure what we're serving is healthy for our community."

Each menu change includes a breakfast, lunch and entrée option, carefully considered based on customer experience while being mindful of seasonal ingredients.

"This morning I sat down with three of our chefs, one from the Northern Territory, a non-Indigenous chef, and another Aboriginal chef we've just employed," she said.

"It becomes a cultural exchange. It's about asking, 'What can you bring to the table?' and working with each chef's strengths."

That collaborative approach allows Blak Cede Gunyah to continually evolve its menu while staying true to its values.

"A lot of the time you go into cafes and everything's already been done," Ms Williams said.

"So for us, it's about what's next for the people coming for the experience, and keeping true to ourselves in terms of using kangaroo, crocodile and all those sorts of things that people would not normally try."

Looking ahead

Looking forward Blak Cede Gunyah is set to soar even higher in 2026 - with plans to expand staff, as well as a food truck trial in late January.

"You walk around most businesses here, and it's hard for anybody to support an indigenous person working in a retail hospitality space in Nowra; it's very rare," Ms Williams said.

"So, one thing for us is we're on the complete flip side. We can't create enough positions for our community.

"We have over 20 resumes just sitting there from people wanting to work in the cafe. So we've created that space, knowing that that's where people would like to work.

"It's that's what it's about, that's the future investment, and having people support the cafe is one way of giving back to the Indigenous community. It's supporting businesses like ours, supporting Blak business."