East Brunswick Project

438 Lygon St, Brunswick East

See original entry for Artisan Espresso

The Artisan Espresso site that opened in April has, after a short hiatus, re-opened as the East Brunswick Project. The interior feel is very similar, and many of the fittings are the same. The furniture has been slightly re-arranged, however, and with the back room now lit up and housing a coffee roaster there's a more expansive feel to the place.

It's worth popping in during its early days of operation and having the pleasure of observing and talking to the barista, Marinus, while he's at work extracting your caffeinated beverage. The Padre blend is still in the grinder - a sweeter coffee, aiming for a burnt toffee taste, which, with the addition of milk, makes for a caramelly latte.

There's a small range of muffins and mini slices available, but the focus is undoubtedly on the bean and its proper handling to create a drink of distinction.

(In its original incarnation the cafe featured a noticable, yellow-topped, circular table spruiking 'petit dejeuner'. A gold star to anyone who can identify in which local eatery it has ended up!)

Brother Baba Budan

359 Little Bourke St, Melbourne

Hot drinks have had their moments in the spotlight on this blog, but they tend to be on the peripheral of reviews, mentioned in addition to the food on offer as an extra indication of a venue's style and worth. On this occasion, however, there's no food stealing the limelight, in part because this particular venue doesn't really serve food (with the exception of the odd pastry): at BBB, it's all about the coffee.

Run by the same bloke who looked after St Ali in South Melbourne, this is a cafe devoted to the service of the best coffee possible. There's not a lot to recommend the place from the outside - an intriguing shingle would probably indicate a boutique rather than a cafe to the uninitiated - yet within that subtley is an immediate allure, and that's before you notice the flock of chairs stuck to the ceiling. Coffee franchises often note their 'blend of the day', which indicates which packet they opened under orders from Head Office that morning. At BBB that blend will be something developed and roasted by the guys making the coffee, and tasting notes for each are provided on their website. It's not a place to stop into for a quick takeaway, either: they take the necessary care with each cup.

So, what was it about my takeaway cup of caffeine that so tickled the tastebuds? Sipped without sugar, the coffee was extremely bitter, but not in an aggravating way. There was no puckering: alongside the bitter taste was an astonishingly smooth mouthfeel. It actually made me think of a whiskey, in the way tart taste and smooth texture combined. By the time I added sugar it became an extraordinary and, given the lateness of the previous evening, life-giving drink.

Each Peach

506 Lygon St, Brunswick East; 03 9383 4529; Open Sat-Weds

The minimalist refit is a favourite of many inner north cafes. At Each Peach, the walls display a little more flare than somewhere such as Small Block or Julio, and the reserve is saved for the menu. This is a cafe to stop in on a rainy day, when you want to feel at home but have someone bring warm things to you on a plate or in a glass; or somewhere to bask on a sunny day with light filling the front room as you ponder between paninis and their biscuit selection.

The walls here are decorated with tea towels stitched into quilts; the front room is dominated by a hefty communal table perfect for spreading a newspaper on or resting your elbows as you become immersed in a novel (perhaps a book picked up from the cafe's bookshelf). Out the back there's a fire and subdued lighting, giving the room the feel of the loungeroom of a country relative. It's a good place for kids too, with toys and play area in both rooms.
All this atmosphere would be wasted if the produce on offer didn't stand up to scrutiny. There's no problems there. The staff at Each Peach know their way around a coffee machine and deliver a well-tempered drink. Just about everything served is organic (see right). Choose from one slice or two of sourdough raisin toast or cinnamon toast with fig apple jam; or ask them to heat up one of the paninis on display, perhaps filled with goats cheese and olive tapenade, or biodynamic proscuitto, tomato and fetta; or tuck into a bowl of nourishing toasted muesli.

Addendum: Having walked past Each Peach several times since they opened, I've been impressed to note how frequently they update their menu (a simple affair, chalked up on a blackboard on the wall). The panini fillings change regularly - there was a pork sausage and quince one last week, which I didn't act quickly enough to sample - as does a simple, cooked meal option. It's a great attitude to fresh produce and will keep curious palates sated.

Curiousity will no doubt increase following Matt Preston's glowing review in Epicure, 12.08.08.

Journal Cafe

253 Flinders Lane; 03 9650 4399

Enjoy playing with your food? At Journal cafe, a simple request for a pot of chai tea produces a tray's worth of gadgets to entertain. One can swirl the tea in its pot, infusing as much of the cardamon, clove, star anise and cinnamon flavour as possible into the milk. Rest the tea strainer over the tall, clear glass as you pour, then nestle it back into its holder. A pot of honey is provided for the drinker to manage the tea's sweetness at their discretion. There's an additional jug of milk, with a sprinkle of cinnamon on top, perhaps to top up the original pot, which is crammed with tea mix. It's a good chai mix; all the better for settling in with your gadgets at hand to savour a fine cup of tea.

Devour Cafe

806 High St, Thornbury; 03 9484 8496

Have you ever fancied a hot chocolate that could serve as a meal in itself? Devour offer just such a drinking option. There really should be a size warning on the menu! The $4.50 drink comes in a tumbler, not a mere cup; is exquisitely decorated; and contains a winning amount of chocolate syrup. At that size, it's something you'd want to take slowly, but on this occasion it was somewhat tepid, so it was a matter of get into it or be relegated to slurping a sorta-warm chocolate.

Luckily there was time to be taken. Any trip to Devour leads SG or me to the Devour Burger, a divine, decadent meal that sports a pattie so enormous it carries a minimum 30 minute preparation time. When the burger arrives, it's speared with a skewer in order to keep the tennisball pattie sandwiched between the kaiser bun along with cheese, avocado, sun-dried tomatoes, spinach leaves, caramelised onions and tomato chutney.They've left no filling preferences to chance! The dish comes with a choice of eggplant or potato chips. I'm yet to sample the former, but the latter are extraordinary. They're chips of the long, flat kind, crisp and doused in delectable seasoning.

Devour also does a fine line in specials, particularly on their breakfast menu (eg their famous baked eggs). One of today's options was Eggs Krumpin. Something to do with eggs and crumpets, perhaps? Indeed! Two crumpets done french toast-style: dipped in egg, cream and parsley, then fried and served with bacon, maple syrup and Devour's baked beans (home-made, served with herbs and chilli). All very intriguing, but unfortunately my curiousity remained as unsated as yours...they were out of beans (out of beans! It's a Thornbury tragedy).

Second choice was their Breakfast Burger: everything good about a fry-up, but this time wedged between two slices of bread rather than beside. The bread in question is a Kaiser bun: a huge, round roll with a little pointy bit at the top - looks like an old-school helmet or a crown. Inside said bun is sausage, bacon (happy the carnivore), a fried free-range egg, spinach, tomato chutney and a huge smear of melted cheese on the top half. As if that wasn't enough, nestled beside the burger was a hashbrown: deliciously crispy and salty crumbing around moist, fall-apart potato. Who needs chips?

Devour is a small cafe, always welcoming. The fitout is all warm colours, with teal walls and drapes. The front section is brightened by sun coming through the plate glass windows; the slightly elevated back section is a warm place to sit by the fire, admire the artwork and work your way through a hot drink. There's also a courtyard out the back if you want to take in some sun, maybe with a locally brewed 3 Ravens beer.

Artisan Espresso

438 Lygon St, Brunswick East

I think this is a first for this blog: neighbouring posts for neighbouring businesses. 438 Lygon St was a blank shopfront when I was lured by India on Lygon's neon at Number 440 earlier this week. On Thursday morning, however, it revealed itself as Artisan Espresso. Hurrah, I say, finally this ever-burgeoning strip of Lygon St has itself a dedicated coffee shop.

The new shop's owners are currently involved with the Appetite Food Store in North Melbourne. Artisan Espresso is an existing venture, summed up pretty well by its name, that has been roasting small batches of coffee for supply to customers via their website, or to a select few cafes. The roasters will be moved from North Melbourne shortly and the shop already has their own blended, roasted beans available for sale.

The roasting area will be separated from a bright, welcoming dining area. The space has been well-used in the front room: the coffee machine affronts the door, so it has an almost magnetic pull on coffee-lovers, who will find their feet turning and their mouths ordering before they can say Colombian free-trade. The paint job and floor are straightforward, with the colour in the room coming from a range of knick-knacks on tables and shelves: scales, coffee paraphernalia and bottles of drink from the Phoenix range. There are some great canvas prints on the shelves and walls too.

To the drinks. Their house blend is Padre, a mix of Dominican, Brazilian and Sulawesi beans. The coffee formed a bitter crema, but the body provided the smooth start you want to your Saturday. A bowl of hot chocolate resisted being too sweet and would be a happy alternative if you've reached your caffeine limit for the day/week/month. Sip tea and Phoenix Chai are also available.

It's only Day 3 of operations, and I'll be very curious to watch the business grow over the next few weeks, as well as excited to finally have a local coffee haunt.

http://www.artisanespresso.com.au/

Sugardough

163 Lygon St, Brunswick; 03 9380 4060


Oh yes, that is a cup of liquid chocolate. It is heated, hence answers to the name of 'hot chocolate', but it is not a name that does it justice. The price of black gold may be through the roof thanks to the weak American dollar, and brown coal may be a source of environmental pariahism in Australia, but here we have brown gold, worth every striving Aussie cent of its $3.50 price tag.

It takes commitment to get through, but if you need pause while alternating between spoonfuls and sips, Sugardough are kind enough to serve their hot drinks on some very sweet saucers, which allow time to reminisce on tea parties past, or gatherings to come.

A Minor Place

103 Albion St, Brunswick East; 03 9384 3131

One of Brunswick's shopfront cafes (cf Ray's, Small Block, La Paloma), A Minor Place offers guests milk crates and fold-out tables outside. Inside, an easterly window welcomes plenty of sunlight over the wooden communal tables as well as a few smaller seating options. It's a minimalist fitout that is netting reward: on a Wednesday lunchtime at least 20 people are seated amongst the tables. Isabelle Lucas, former Neighbours star, notes it as one of her favourite spots in an interview with the age(melbourne) magazine.

Their menu features plenty of organic produce and an imaginative take on breakfast. My menu highlight is the french toast: casalinga bread dipped in free-range eggs, served with stewed rhubarb, quality maple syrup and moreish pistachio ricotta.

Their coffee is carefully made and strong. This mocha looked too well-decorated to drink, so I photographed it to allow it to be preserved on the web, then vigorously stirred and took my time enjoying the blended tastes of bitter coffee and rich, sweet chocolate.

Espressino

50 Lonsdale St, City; 03 9662 3334

This coffee and snack experience is entirely owing to Mellie at tummy rumbles, who has an extensive and glowing post dedicated to the team at Espressino, augmented by comments from her many friends who have been inspired to check it out!

It was the perfect place for me to delve back into the Melbourne dining scene post-Europe. While the kitout of Espressino is very muchly in the minimalist, modern café style, the food and the service are much more Italian trattoria. On the day I visited, I had intended to grab a mid-morning snack, but what with jetlag keeping me in bed longer than expected, I hit a be-suited lunch rush. Every table taken, people queuing to order, waiting for takeaways, yet my coffee was still delivered by the ‘hunky Italian specimen’, as Mel so accurately describes him, with a decidedly cheery ‘here you go bella’.

I was there to sample the excellent coffee – rich, perfectly roasted, sweet not bitter – and the bombolone. Mmm, nutella and custard. Just three days previously I’d had a free ‘breakfast’ at a hostel in Rome, which had consisted of chocolate croissant and orange cordial. The croissant was a baked-by-the-thousand piece of pastry, with a huge wodge of nutella squirted in the middle. This bombolone, by contrast, was delicate, sugared dough surrounding a creamy chocolate custard filling, that was neither too sweet nor rich, but served perfectly for, um, lunch!

(Note, to get there, head down Madame Brussels Lane, next to the office building at 50 Lonsdale St)