Pancake Parlour
From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia
 | |
| Company type | Family business |
|---|---|
| Genre | Pancakes |
| Founded | 1965 |
| Founder | Allen Trachsel Helen Trachsel Roger Meadmore |
| Headquarters | Melbourne, Australia |
Number of locations | 13 |
Area served | Victoria |
Key people | Simon Meadmore, Chief Executive Officer Gerhard Wittwer, General Manager |
| Products | pancakes, ice-cream, crepes, various savoury dishes |
| Website | www |
The Pancake Parlour is an Australian family-owned pancake restaurant chain, serving sweet and savoury pancakes and crepes with locations in Victoria.
History[edit]
In 1959, Roger and Helen Meadmore, an Australian couple, and their longtime American business partner, Alan Trachsel,[1][2] were on a road trip in the U.S.[a] Every morning, they stopped for breakfast at pancake houses. The Australians would later recall, "Americans served pancakes the way we serve toast".[3]
When they returned home, Roger Meadmore discarded his plans to start an omelette restaurant. He saved up for years to open up the Pancake Kitchen in 1965 with his wife and Trachsel.[3][7] Located in a burned-out deli at Gilbert Place, Adelaide,[5] the Pancake Kitchen's early days were unconventional. Instead of a menu, patrons were asked what they wanted. Their answer was "pancakes and a sort-of bolognese." This dish is still on the menu as the Tabriz.[1][b]
In 1969, they sold the Pancake Kitchen. Roger Meadmore moved to Sydney,[1] leaving the company to pursue his career as a balloonist and, being a committed Scientologist, run his personal efficiency business.[4][c] Helen and Alan Trachsel, now married,[d] moved to Melbourne, where they started a now-defunct pancake restaurant at 4 Market Lane. As someone else had already registered the Pancake Kitchen there, they named it the Pancake Parlour. In 1971, they built the portable Pancake Parlour Party Machine, which operated during the 70s.[1][3]
Samantha Meadmore left the company in 2009, whilst Simon is now the sole owner.[13][2] There are twelve Melbourne restaurants, with the Doncaster, Highpoint, Fountain Gate and Malvern East restaurants open 24 hours a day.[14]
Description[edit]
The Pancake Parlour also serves fish, chicken, salads and savoury crepes as well as a variety of breakfast dishes.[15] The Pancake Parlour also sells its pancake mix and pancake syrup in supermarkets across Australia.[16]
The early Pancake Parlours had a giant chess set in every store. The company also sponsored and hosted many chess tournaments in the 1970s and 1980s.[17]
Reception[edit]
According to Good Food, the Pancake Parlour is regarded as a Melbourne icon.[1]
See also[edit]
Notes[edit]
- ^ While their official company history says they were traveling from New York to Miami,[3] a Vice article says they were going through Florida. Sources also differ on who was with Roger Meadmore. Vice said only Trachsel was with him,[4] The Advertiser said only Helen was,[5] and an article from Good Food, endorsed by the company,[6] says that all three were present.[1]
- ^ The Original Pancake Kitchen is still in operation today after being sold at least twice, the first time before 1969.[1] The current owners, proprietor Mark Sandgren and his family, bought the restaurant in March 2017.[8] It currently operates as a four-restaurant chain across South Australia unaffiliated with the Pancake Parlour.[9]
- ^ Meadmore started a company called Pancakes Australia and opened many unaffiliated restaurants across Sydney, Brisbane, and Perth.[10] Some of these, such as Sydney's Pancakes on the Rocks and Brisbane's Pancake Manor, still exist.[11][12]
- ^ Sources differ on when Helen separated from Roger Meadmore and married Alan Trachsel. Vice claims that when the three went into business together to start the Pancake Kitchen, Helen and Roger were already separated.[4] Good Food said that Helen married Trachsel sometime after the road trip,[1] while a 1990 article from the Australian Financial Review said that the Meadmores separated in the early 1980s.[10] A 1979 article in The Age said that Helen and Trachsel were already married by then.[2]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d e f g h Cody, Gemima (9 April 2019). "All malts, no cults at the Pancake Parlour". Good Food. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
- ^ a b c Forell, Claude (20 November 1979). "Parlors prove winner". The Age. p. 25 – via Google Books.
- ^ a b c d "History". The Pancake Parlour. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
- ^ a b c Kurmelovs, Royce (21 February 2017). "How Scientologists Founded the Pancake Parlour". Vice. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
- ^ a b Barila, Greg (3 March 2023). "SA's most iconic fast food outlets — and the stories behind them". The Advertiser. Archived from the original on 3 March 2023.
- ^ "The Good Food Guide makes friends with The Pancake Parlour". The Pancake Parlour. 7 May 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
- ^ "Pancake man busily balloons his chain". The Canberra Times. Vol. 59, no. 17975. 15 December 1984. p. 10 – via Trove.
- ^ Wilson, Roxanne (24 May 2017). "The Original Pancake Kitchen's new owners have big plans for Adelaide's 24-hour restaurant". The Advertiser. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
- ^ "Locations". The Original Pancake Parlour. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
- ^ a b Shoebridge, Neil (27 April 1990). "Fast Food, Slow Process; Quadrax Saves Its Own Neck". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
- ^ "About Pancake Manor". The Pancake Manor. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
- ^ Sinclair, Rosemary (1986). Hayes, Joy (ed.). Cooking & Looking in Sydney's Rocks Area. Sydney: Ayer & James Heritage Books. p. 45. ISBN 094925603X – via Internet Archive.
- ^ "Fifty years of pancakes and still going strong". National Australia Bank. 1 July 2015. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
- ^ "Locations". The Pancake Parlour. Retrieved 10 February 2013.
- ^ "Savoury Menu".
- ^ "The Pancake Parlour Pancake Mix 500g | Woolworths". www.woolworths.com.au. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
- ^ "Tournament at the Pancake Parlour". The Canberra Times. Vol. 62, no. 19046. 27 November 1987. p. 21 – via Trove.