A spicy pretzel is the last thing I expected to fall in love with in this coastal town.
They’re not a snack you can pick up on any given corner, like in Manhattan, or to soak up a stein of beer like you would in a German beer hall. But the tasty morsel I hold in my hand, as I drive away from Esperance in Western Australia, has just become one of the best on-the-go breakfasts I’ve ever had.
Say hello to the jalapeño bretzel – a pillowy, cheesy, breadier knot of a pastry encrusted with the crunchy, spicy chillies. The folks at Downtown Espresso (in my humble opinion, the go-to for coffee in this tiny frontier town) have been baking them for hungry locals since opening the cafe in 2017.
Inspired by co-owner Nicola Sime’s German heritage, and often devoured while wandering the Munich Viktualienmarkt on holidays to visit her family, Nicola and her partner Grant import the bretzel bases and add their signature toppings before popping a batch in the oven several times a day. “Jalapeño and cheese is a magic combination,” Nicola later tells me over the phone.
If I had known how good it was going to be, I would have taken more time to savour the wares in their pastry cabinet and stocked up on cinescrolls and pecan maple danish, too.
I had already come to the conclusion that anyone who had the good fortune to grow up in Esperance – or made the sea change to town at a later stage of life – was accustomed to an embarrassment of riches. Not only are the beaches insanely beautiful, but the Dukes Espresso brews and pastries being pumped out at Downtown make a pretty sweet case for settling down for a stint.
The pastries on offer at Downtown Espresso. Image: Celeste Mitchell
Jalapeños can do no wrong in my books. Whether they’re in a spicy margs, sourdough bread, or stuffed into a burger in the middle of the Red Centre, like the one I had once at Hale River Station. And pretzels are thought to be one of the oldest surviving snacks in the world, so this seemingly simple choice certainly had scope to impress.
Like many of the most memorable foodie moments found on the road, the fact a 41-hour car journey separates me (in Queensland) from another jalapeño bretzel will continue to make me thirsty for more until I can track down an east coast alternative.
Or maybe a flight to Munich would be quicker.