The Brick Kitchen

Industry Beans: Review

Claudia Brick — Mon, 23 Nov 2015 03:48:27 +0000

Industry Beans
3/62 Rose Street, Fitzroy
Hours: 7am-4pm Mon-Fri, 8am-4pm weekends

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

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Breakfast Thieves: Review

Claudia Brick — Sun, 14 Jun 2015 03:33:08 +0000

Breakfast Thieves
Shop 1, 420 Gore St, Fitzroy
03 9416 4884
Monday-Friday 730am-4pm, Saturday-Sunday 8am-4pm.

Making the most of my few days left in Melbourne for the semester meant venturing over to Fitzroy to visit Breakfast Thieves, a popular cafe just off Smith Street. The small space is decked out in contrasting white tiles and bleached wooden slats, while an innovative sweets display features small cubby holes set into the wall and a cut-out panel gives diners a peeking view of the kitchen in action. A few communal tables are matched with cast-iron legged bench tables and stools, while gas-heaters outdoors maximise the seating capacity. We were seated indoors straight away, it being a Friday, but I doubt it would have been so easy on a weekend.

The menu is full of innovative flavour combinations and dish titles, with the lunch menu in particularly featuring Asian-inspired options. Choices in the all day breakfast list include Bircher Muesli (blueberry sago, rolled oats, organic quinoa, goji, dried cranberries, vanilla yogurt, banana, strawberry, 65% cocoa chunks, rockmelon + orange soup – $16.5), the Spanish Gypsy Dance (spanish black pudding with crisp rosemary & parmesan polenta bars, chilean pebre, cherry tomatoes, pickles, basil oil & poached eggs – $19.5), and The Breakfast Chain for those who can’t choose between sweet and savoury (Passionfruit & mango vanilla trifle with granola, apple & blueberry almond trifle and soft-boiled eggs & english cheddar melted soldiers – $20). Other interesting lunch options included the Lady Ching Shih (43° confit ocean trout & crispy trout dumpling on a vermicelli salad – $21) and Uncle Foo’s Fiery Crab Burger (polenta-crusted soft shell crab with fiery chilli crab sauce in brioche bun and kaffir lime thrice cooked chips – $21). Three benedict options featuring a yuzu-hollandaise sauce are also available on weekends only.

I couldn’t go past the Say ABCD ($19), so Cathy and I shared the gorgeous fairy-garden inspired french toast dish. Small cubes of brioche french toast, pillowy soft with crusty edges, are presented with tangy kiwifruit coulis, rich chocolate ganache, crisp paper-thin wafers of sweet streaky candied bacon, raspberry puree, coconut-almond crumble and apple poached pink in hibiscus syrup. The only odd component was perhaps the latter, where the flowery apple pieces might have improved if served warm and tender, rather than in cool chunks. Although very sweet, this crazy mish-mash of flavours did seem to work, with each mouthful delivering a slightly different combination. Would order again.

I also tried the Lephrechan – crisp fried sweetcorn fritters on chipotle and grilled corn puree, pickled beetroot, yuzu avocado mouse & poached eggs ($19). A delicious spicy-mexican-slash-asian combination, the dense, spongy fritters had few whole corn kernels inside, being relatively batter-heavy, so the chipotle puree, yuzu avocado mousse and eggs were needed to add moisture. (By the way, yuzu is a Japanese citrus fruit – I had to look it up!). The crunchy pieces of pickled beetroot did seem slightly out of place however, and, as always, avocado mousse always appears a little lack lacklustre compared to the real thing.

Imogen and Cathy ordered the Legend ($19), where spicy baked eggs with chorizo, mushrooms, peas, sweetcorn and feta are served in a piping hot skillet, still bubbling from the oven, with herbed garlic toast on the side. Spicy and filling, this hearty dish is perfect for a winter lunch.

Jeff decided to go back to his roots (his words, not mine!), and chose the Botak Chin Congee ($20), where a home-made smooth bowl of congee is topped with Malaysian sticky honey-braised pork, crisp mushrooms, soy peanuts, spring onion, pickled ginger & soy boiled egg. This he thoroughly enjoyed, particularly the sticky pork component.

Service was efficient and they did allow us to split the bill, with Jeff and I leaving with extra take-away sweets – he chose the huge (just about as big as his head) Anzac biscuit, while I thoroughly enjoyed the dense chocolate walnut brownie. A great place for an out of the ordinary brunch or lunch with friends or for sustenance during a Fitzroy shopping trip, Breakfast Thieves offers innovative and high quality food in a casual setting and will not disappoint.

Rating: 7/10
Don’t miss: the wild brioche french toast
Features: outdoor seating, child friendly, asian-inspired brunch and lunch dishes

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