Gathered Kitchen looks like an everyday café. Croissants, cruffins and passionfruit palmiers line the counter while an impressive selection of sandwiches, wraps and other takeaway options are stocked in the display fridge. What’s missing is the bacon-and-egg roll on the menu, because this café is pioneering the way for vegan brunch.
Order a drink at the counter to get your order underway and take a seat in the charming shed-like courtyard out the back of the restaurant. The menu is hefty, running from prime Insta-bait like lemongrass pandan waffles and buttermilk “pancakessss” through to dairy-free smoothies like the ‘go green’, an ice-blended concoction loaded with fresh mango, greens and generous amounts of banana so that the fruit sugars balance out the veggie hitchhikers.
If this is your first foray into the world of faux meat a good place to start is the wicked vince tortillas. The mince is made from fleshy walnuts and shredded coconut in a spicy chilli sauce, topped with fresh mango and crunchy cucumber salsa and served in the pillowy folds of two house-made tortillas. Complete this quasi-Mexican brunch with a side of juicy corn on the cob, spiced with mountain pepperberry.
Their coffee isn’t the reason you come here, but a cup of joe isn’t hard to find in the Inner West. What's harder to locate is a menu where you don’t have to opt for the avo toast, again.
Here you can order a vegan croissant. For a pastry that is traditionally more butter than bulk, they’ve set themselves a serious challenge. While you’ll never quite achieve the airy leaves of a traditional French crescent without butter, these pastries still manage to tick all the boxes: sweet, slightly salty, and thanks to cold-pressed coconut oil, buttery.
Newtown used to be the heart of Sydney's vegan economy, but with the addition of this pastry-loving vegan kitchen along the same strip that houses Soul Burgers and a Cruelty Free Shop, Glebe is staking its claim as the vegan heartland, one stack of pancakes at a time.