There’s a new brunch destination making a buzz at the Rialto, the first flagship cafe from Cremorne’s lauded Square One Coffee Roasters. It’s the latest venue from The Mulberry Group (TMG), the trailblazers behind some of Melbourne’s most happening cafes and bars in recent years, including Top Paddock, Higher Ground, The Kettle Black, Lilac Wine Bar and Liminal.
But those aren’t the only big names in hospitality joining this project. The all-day menu is designed to rotate, with 10 different famous chefs contributing a menu item to highlight ingredients from TMG’s Common Ground Project – a regenerative community farm in Freshwater Creek that provides education and career pathways for the disadvantaged. 10 per cent of all proceeds at the cafe will be donated to the farm’s initiatives.
Talented chefs joining the mission in its debut season include Victor Liong (Lee Ho Fook), Nagesh Seethiah (Manze), Tom Sarafian (Melbourne’s very own hummus legend), Jemma Whiteman (Sydney’s Ante) and Nuno Mendes from London, among others.
Matt Wilkinson of Montalto Winery (a recent award-winner at this prestigious wine competition) is contributing his famous rice pudding with poached rhubarb, while Sarafian will be utilising the farm’s greens for his ‘Grandma’s borek’ with pickled turnips. Other highlights on the eclectic menu include Liong’s cumin lamb pancake with Lanzhou chilli and garden herbs and a crumbed lion’s mane mushroom schnitzel with green garlic and macadamia hummus.
While the participating chef’s dishes will change over time, head chef Hudson Beare is ensuring a staple selection of brunch favourites will always be available, including a kimchi and cheddar toastie, ricotta toast with fermented chilli and a soft boiled egg, a sausage muffin with grilled salami cotto and cheese, and more.
You can find Square One Rialto at the base of the Rialto on the corner of King and Collins Street, a stylish and airy dining room with glowing spherical lamps that hang from the ceiling, a grab-and-go salad counter and a dedicated retail space where customers can purchase their own coffee products to take home. Various recipes from the project will eventually be compiled and published in a cookbook.
