The cafés. Oh, the cafés. They’re taking over Melbourne. By the time you finish reading this, another five will have opened within a one-kilometre radius of your home. In a market so over-supplied it takes a pretty big effort to stand out from the crowd. But that’s precisely what Shannon Bennett’s Piggery Café does without even raising a sweat. Just witness the scenes of carnage as four-wheel drives compete for a park. It’s the quick and the dead out here in the Dandenongs where Bennett and property developer Adam Garrison are turning the heritage-listed Burnham Beeches into a foodie wonderland.
Apart from the heritage-listed real estate (although we’re not sure if it applies to the Piggery Café, which is in – yes – a converted piggery) they have a natural advantage over the competition. Did we mention Vue de Monde? Yep, Bennett’s a chef who’s learned how to compete on every level, from his high-falutin’ top-of-the-Rialto fine dining to ground zero here in Sherbrooke, where he and Garrison are carving a grassroots empire dripping with edible excitement, including a truffière, and emu paddock (for the eggs, not meat) and brewery and a gazillion other things (including six acres of working garden).
The café-bakery is pretty darn exciting. There are finger-lickin’ chickens off the charcoal barbecue, the burger is Blackmore Wagyu, the salads are zesty and compelling, the lobster roll is an affordable bit of luxe, the breads and pastries pumping out of the adjoining Burnham Bakery are in hot demand (the brioche comes sandwiching lamb sangers – smoky, spicy North African ones – fried and pickled shallots and Dijon mustard). So it’s not exactly reinventing the wheel, you say? Just try and sit in the high-ceilinged space with its rustic concrete walls and the marble tabletops, set amid 23 hectares of eco-conscious loveliness, and not be swept away by the romance of it all. Just try.
Runner up
The Kettle Black
The crew from Melbourne’s biggest hits including Top Paddock and Two Birds One Stone strike again, this time giving the citizens of South Melbourne their spin on everything from eggs Benedict (classic!) to polenta porridge with fancy-pants strawberry action (modern!).
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Rudimentary
Shipping container alert… three of them, in fact, joined to create a cool café on a former carpark now gussied up with AstrotTurf and plantings. The menu channels a Vietnamese vibe with chef Shane Donelly’s signature dish of pork belly with crisp pigs’ ear, slivers of chilli and a sour tamarind sauce.
Mastic
George Calombaris has tightened the torso without junking the joy by adopting the kind of food on offer at his Kew wholefoods café. The superfood smoothies are charging out the door and the menu covers the body-beautiful bases including plenty of gluten free and paleo options.
Sir Charles
A cross-pollination with the folks behind Hawthorn’s Axil Roasters has turned this ex-bagelry into an Asian-accented café that rolls into dinner Thursday to Saturday and boasts its own excellent house blend, roasted on-site.
Source: Time Out Melbourne, Larissa Dubecki, 18th August 2015
Originally published as: Time Out Food Awards 2015: Best Café
