Industry Beans: Review

Industry Beans
3/62 Rose Street, Fitzroy
Hours: 7am-4pm Mon-Fri, 8am-4pm weekends
http://industrybeans.com/pages/cafe

Innovative. Meticulous. Unique. Industrial. Contemporary.

All words I could throw around in an attempt to describe Industry Beans – and probably even then not quite manage it. The small warehouse roastery started up five years ago by brothers Steve and Trevor Simmons has developed into a one of the most renowned cafes in Melbourne, a Fitzroy coffee mecca with a distinctive cafe menu that borrows from the techniques of high-end restaurants – think coffee caviar, compressed watermelon and truffle foam. Named the best designed cafe in the world in 2014, in other hands the high ceilinged, narrow industrial space could have become cold, dark and drab with concrete, but has instead maximised natural light and used light timber furnishings together with black tile and an outdoor green courtyard to create an openness and warmth missing from many similar low budget fit-outs. Floor-to-ceilings shelves lined with sacks of greens beans form the rear wall, with a large 5kg coffee roaster allowing easy viewing of the roasting process.

Rather than a drinks menu, a specialty coffee menu adorns each table: espresso, cold drip, cold brew, and filter are the main options, and from there are choices of blend – the house blend, or ‘Fitzroy Street’ is a mix of Indonesian, Colombia and El Salvador beans, while other options are the Rose St blend, Kenya, Panama and Ethiopia. All are accompanied by descriptions of their origin and flavour profiles, bringing a wine-tasting-esque feel to the art of coffee drinking.

The food is just as impressive, thanks to head chef Jess Allen. It is one of those rare menus where not one, not two, but almost every option is unique and vivid with flavour, making deciding what to order a mammoth challenge. Granola is served with passionfruit pannacotta, rhubarb and a deep pink slab of rose-water compressed watermelon ($17), while the omelette is cooked with caramelised leeks, shanklish cheese, za’atar, pinenuts and crispy kale ($19). There is a definite Asian twist to many dishes – tamarind blue swimmer crab is with a thai herb omelette with prawn, green apple and lychees ($23); green-papaya and peanut crusted egg is matched with green mango, coriander and nahm jim ($19); and one of the desserts is pandan jello with sesame peanut praline, mango, thai basil lotus and palm seeds ($12).

Coffee infiltrates the food as well – brioche french toast is coconut crusted and accompanied by pineapple, crushed peanuts, lime curd and coffee caviar ($18), while even the wagyu burger is coffee rubbed ($23). The share plate on offer was perfectly presented and hard to look away from – mouthfuls of cured salmon are served on a base of fennel avocado mouse and kaffir lime jelly with tea marbled egg and crispy quinoa ($22). Decisions, decisions.

I eventually chose the wild mushrooms ($22), where the earthy flavour of richly sautéed wild mushrooms is amplified by truffle foam and porcini powder. Regular sourdough is nowhere in sight, replaced by the contrasting textures of polenta chips, the golden, crispy-grained outer and soft yet non-gluggy inner matching the mushrooms and poached egg. Another winning dish to try to replicate at home.

Kate chose the steel cut oats ($16), presented like artwork with lavender mango, coconut yogurt, crumble, freeze dried Manuka honey & raspberries and garnished with edible flowers. Kate R. went for the classic eggs and relish, but even the simple poached eggs were executed perfectly with a roasted beetroot relish and charred sourdough.

I couldn’t leave without trying the Coffee Garden dessert ($14): a crumbly, buttery pistachio sponge is topped with coffee custard pudding, pops of coffee caviar (made using the molecular gastronomy technique of spherification) and cold drip gel surrounded by textured chocolate soil and dollops of berry coulis. Shards of tulle finish off the dish. This is something I could go back and eat again, and again – espresso flavour unites all the components without being too sweet or bitter, while the pistachio, chocolate and raspberry are inspired. Seriously brilliant.

Currently my favourite cafe in Melbourne – and I don’t say that lightly – Industry Beans delivers award-winning coffee, food that makes me want to dive into every dish (and then try to recreate them myself!), and attentive service. Make sure you get there with all the coffee lovers in your life.

Rating: 9/10
Do: be prepared for a weekend wait for a table
Don’t miss: the coffee garden dessert, or just the coffee in general
Features: specialty coffee, takeaway roasted beans, share plates