Cafes

The Meeting Place Cafe, South Yarra

~ culinaldi ~ Leave a comment

It’s a very rare occurrence when I visit a café for a second visit, however necessity sometimes dictates location. My gorgeous hair stylist is located in a small arcade in South Yarra, adjacent to The Meeting Place café, so in order to get to my early Saturday morning appointment, I decided to kill two birds with one stone and enjoy a quick breakfast there beforehand.

The courtyard area was occupied when I arrived 45 minutes before my scheduled appointment so I wandered inside and found a small table in a corner by the window with a view of the arcade. The owner was happy to see my return and promptly brought over the menu and a bottle of water, but in his excitement forgot to ask if I wanted a coffee, and at that time of the morning, I was really looking forward to one.

The Meeting Place Cafe, South Yarra
The Meeting Place Cafe, South Yarra

The menu has changed since my last visit in June; there are new dishes and the spelling mistakes are no longer the main attraction. Taking a look over the menu, I was happy to see that the Nutella and banana pancakes were still available, which was just what I felt like I needed to get me through the day. After a small wait, I ordered the pancakes and a large, hot skinny latte and settled in to read the newspaper.

My much-needed coffee arrived shortly thereafter, slightly on the strong side but very much appreciated. With the sun streaming through the large front windows, steadily sipping my coffee and reading the news of the day, I was enjoying my time out before realising that the clock was ticking and that I had an appointment that I wanted to honour. Before I knew it, half an hour had past, I had finished reading and my breakfast was yet to appear despite being due to be elsewhere in less than ten minutes. As soon as I sent a text message to warn my hairdresser that I could be late, the most perfect pancakes I have ever seen were placed in front of me.

Nutella and banana pancakes - roasted hazlenuts, strawberries served with vanilla custard - The Meeting Place, South Yarra
Nutella and banana pancakes – roasted hazlenuts, strawberries served with vanilla custard – The Meeting Place, South Yarra

Accompanied by a small jug of thin vanilla custard, the presentation of the dish was excellent: two perfectly formed, symmetrical pancakes stacked together, drizzled with maple syrup and chunks of hazlenuts, garnished with a strawberry that had been halved and fixed to the pancake with a dollop of nutella and a sprig of mint. Crispy on the edges, the pancakes had a moist and fluffy texture – not dry or doughy but cooked just right. The middle layer of the pancake stack consisted of nutella chocolate-hazelnut spread, topped with thin slices of fresh banana and sweet strawberries. It was so delicious and obviously formed with some care, that I forgot about the length of time it took to prepare and settled in and enjoyed my breakfast with gusto.

Nutella and banana pancakes - roasted hazlenuts, strawberries served with vanilla custard - The Meeting Place, South Yarra
Nutella and banana pancakes – roasted hazlenuts, strawberries served with vanilla custard – The Meeting Place, South Yarra

As luck would have it, my hairdresser arrived fifteen minutes after my scheduled appointment so in the end, the timing turned out to be spot on. I guess slow and steady wins the race.

The Meeting Place Cafe on Urbanspoon

Breakfast Thieves, Fitzroy

~ culinaldi ~ Leave a comment

I love how a shared love of food brings people together and that we can make new friendships simply by talking about cafés in our neighbourhood, the things we enjoy eating or discovering the latest culinary sensation in Melbourne’s thriving dining scene. When I chat with friends and colleagues about my weekend breakfast adventures, I’m extremely fortunate to be asked if I have been to such-and-such place or to be given the names of places to go and eat. On a Friday afternoon, I received an unexpected text message from my gorgeous Body Pump instructor Naomi, “you MUST check out Breakfast Thieves, cnr Rose and Gore St in Fitzroy …” When the woman who coaches me each week from the gym podium through an hour of brutal pain-searing, muscle-burning exercises instructs me to get to a café, then her wish is my command.

Breakfast Thieves, Fitzroy
Breakfast Thieves, Fitzroy
Breakfast Thieves, Fitzroy

The beautiful sunshine and warm weather the next Saturday morning was enough to convince me that it was a perfect opportunity to catch a tram and explore new destinations. When I reached Breakfast Thieves, the tables outside were fully occupied and there were a couple of people waiting for a seat inside but I was able to be seated within a couple of minutes. Although I was a party of one, there was no objection to me being able to occupy one of the high tables set for two.

Breakfast Thieves has a slight hipster vibe but is unpretentious and laid back. The floor-to-ceiling windows along the front and side fills the indoor space with an abundance of natural light. The interior is a cosy mish-mash of white tiles, recycled timber slats, exposed brick walls and concrete blocks with bare filament lighting and stained plywood – almost an industrial warehouse meets school room décor. The vintage diamond cut glass decanters used for water and the old-fashioned wooden salt and pepper shakers add a touch of 70s retro to the eclectic mix.

Breakfast Thieves, Fitzroy
Breakfast Thieves, Fitzroy
Breakfast Thieves, Fitzroy
Breakfast Thieves, Fitzroy

Despite the busyness of the café, my coffee arrived not long after being seated. With a bold and strong flavour and expertly decorated, the coffee was delicious and served at the temperature I requested. The menu, otherwise known as the “Morning Feed”, is a collection of seven elaborately crafted dishes, complemented by “The Usual Suspects” comprising of eggs, bakery items and other sides. The sight of “My PB and J” instantly grabbed my attention when I read the description – Brioche French toast pieces served with peanut butter soil, sweetened beetroot, candied bacon, raspberry jelly and lemon curd. My mind couldn’t even imagine what that would like altogether on a plate, so naturally I ordered it.

My PB and J; Brioche French Toast pieces served with peanut butter soil, sweetened beetroot, candied bacon, raspberry jelly and lemon curd - Breakfast Thieves, Fitzroy
My PB and J; Brioche French Toast pieces served with peanut butter soil, sweetened beetroot, candied bacon, raspberry jelly and lemon curd – Breakfast Thieves, Fitzroy

The sweet and the savoury in unison, what arrived on my table was nothing short of a piece of art, crafted with food. Presented with a dish that resembled an edible garden, I had expected red beetroot to be included but rather there was a decorative strip of red beetroot juice smeared across base of the plate and baby golden beetroot served instead. I started with the soft cubes of sweet brioche with lemon curd, which was absolutely delicious, particularly with the sprigs of lemon balm. The dollops of sweet raspberry jelly, or jam as we prefer to call it, was also excellent and easy to mop up with toast.

The thin shards of bacon, coated with a thin layer of maple syrup, had been cooked and cooled before being served. Equally delicious, it had an interesting texture and tearing apart the hardened meat was not unlike eating beef jerky.

The homemade peanut butter was divine, although the consistency and texture could be more likened to clay than soil. Thick and moist and crunchy all at the same time, with small pieces of peanuts in the crumbled mixture, it was quite enjoyable although it did start to build up on my palate after a few mouthfuls.

The golden beetroot was naturally sweet and soft in texture. It’s inclusion wasn’t out of place with everything else presented in the dish, although at times it did taste and feel like I was eating boiled vegetables. If I could change one thing about this dish, it would be to finish off the beetroot by roasting them in the oven to keep their sweet taste and perhaps give them a crispy texture and deeper golden colour.

My breakfast was fabulous, so many flavours and textures, beautifully presented and each morsel was distinctively memorable and delicious. The next time my friend Naomi tells me to go and do something, I’m on it, tout de suite!

Breakfast Thieves on Urbanspoon

 

The Kitchen at Weylandts, Abbotsford

~ culinaldi ~ 1 Comment

Apart from my penchant for good food and fabulous wine, I also love decorating and interior design and get somewhat excited about furniture stores and all manner of homewares and kitchen products. Having just moved into my new home in the city, I’ve been busy planning, perusing shops, websites and magazines looking for fresh ideas and came across a new store from South Africa that had recently opened in Melbourne and also features an onsite café. Dispelling all comparisons to IKEA in nearby Richmond, I eagerly went in search of The Kitchen at Weylandts to have breakfast and to check out their product range.

The Kitchen at Weylandts, Abbotsford
The Kitchen at Weylandts, Abbotsford
The Kitchen at Weylandts, Abbotsford

Despite a two tram trip and a couple of blocks of walking, I arrived at Weylandts right on 10am which was good fortune as the store and café had literally only just opened, so I was able to walk in and find a table that gave me a view of the entire floor space. The design of the café, which is located at the front of the store, is aesthetically beautiful with large windows on each side to maximise the natural light, accented by the pale timber furnishings and a white walled interior.

The Kitchen at Weylandts, Abbotsford
The Kitchen at Weylandts, Abbotsford
The Kitchen at Weylandts, Abbotsford
The Kitchen at Weylandts, Abbotsford
The Kitchen at Weylandts, Abbotsford
The Kitchen at Weylandts, Abbotsford

Within the space of fifteen minutes, people appeared from everywhere and the café was more or less full to capacity. Soon after being seated, the skinny latte I had ordered promptly arrived on it’s own wooden palette and I would have to say that it was undoubtedly the best coffee I have had for a long while. Deliciously creamy and hot, the coffee alone was worth the journey to Abbotsford.

The breakfast menu is contained to only one A5 page and offers things that are traditional fare in South Africa such as Kaiserfleisch bacon and Boerewors sausage. I was sorely tempted by The Kitchen French Toast but decided to try to be a little more adventurous after my efforts to get there that morning. There were also a couple of breakfast specials on the blackboard in front of me that caught my eye, in particular the Roesti topped with poached eggs, chorizo and smokey home-baked beans which would be perfect sustenance for a cold wintery day. After finding the Trout gravlax and Sweetcorn Fritters on the menu, tantalisingly described as ‘cured sea trout and corn fritters stack with soft poached egg, charred corn, cucumber salsa and lime-horseradish crème fraiche dressing’ I knew that I had found what I was looking for. Ironically, just after I had ordered, a serving of the French Toast was delivered to the table next to mine and it looked exquisite. I thought long and hard about changing my order but held on to the courage of my convictions.

Trout Gravlax and Sweetcorn Fritters - The Kitchen at Weylandts, Abbotsford
Trout Gravlax and Sweetcorn Fritters – The Kitchen at Weylandts, Abbotsford

Although I kept looking longingly at the French Toast beside me, my own breakfast looked quite impressive when it did arrive with lots of bright yellow corn kernels decoratively adorning the plate. Apart from looking extremely inviting, everything on the plate was absolutely delicious. The key was the abundance of sweet corn which gave lots of moisture and flavour in each mouthful, although my favourite component of the dish was the lime-horseradish crème fraiche dressing. There didn’t seem to be any restraint with the inclusion of horseradish because you could actually taste the flavour for a change, which wasn’t overwhelming and complemented all the individual elements of the dish.

The staff are friendly and affable but don’t seem to be all that “switched on” and appear to be unprepared to cope with the sudden change in demand. The person who was originally looking after me, walked directly past my table three or four times to get to another section towards the back of the café, but didn’t glance in my direction or bother to clear an empty coffee cup or dirty plate on the return trip to the kitchen, which was particularly frustrating when there were no other tables opposite to where I was sitting, both hands were empty and I was desperately trying to get their attention so that I could order another cup of coffee. When paying at the register, the person on the till seemed to be a little flustered but asked if I enjoyed my breakfast, to which I replied favourably. When processing the payment a moment later, he asked again if I enjoyed my breakfast, and then replied to his own question “Oh yeah … I’ve already asked you that, didn’t I?” I guess as the saying goes, just because the lights are on, it doesn’t necessarily mean that someone is at home.

The Kitchen on Urbanspoon