This busy little café will have you coming back for more. You may have to wait 30 to 45 minutes for a table, unless you make a booking, but it's worth the wait. Chef Paul ‘Dougie’ Douglas and partner Belinda Smullen have created a welcoming little space with a modern country style. Wild flowers don the table, while you perch on steel stools.
The menu changes almost every month depending on the availability of local and seasonal products, also as the chefs get bored of making the same thing all the time, so they like to mix it up. You have your usual breakfast culprits such as poached eggs on freshly baked sourdough toast, to which you might add some halloumi, beetroot relish, baby spinach and hazelnut dukkah – and then you have what they call the Arabesque.
The baguettes are numbered and constantly rotated along with very popular items like the pulled pork or shredded lamb burgers. If you can fit it in, there is also a selection of desserts. All ingredients are locally sourced, with a full list of local suppliers on their website. The owners also run a catering company called the Grub Club and the occasional pop-up dinner around the Dandenong Ranges.
