February 16, 2008: CERES cafe

After the bright lights and late dining of Friday night, we decided to show Michael's mum Robyn and her partner Rob a more sunny, leisurely side of Melbourne on Saturday morning: CERES. This community space is an oasis in urban Melbourne, a quiet and leafy refuge to share with not just other adults, but children, pet dogs, a handful of farm animals and some wildlife. But before we took a stroll through the site, we hit the cafe for breakfast.

The menu here is as organic and locally-sourced as the cafe managers can prepare - as you might expect it's rather veg-friendly too. I reckon Michael's choice, pictured above, must be one of the most luscious-looking breakfasts we've had here in Melbourne, no? It's Verity's Baked Eggs ($14): the eggs come with fetta, spinach pesto, fresh beetroot, mint, parsley, pine nuts and sourdough toast. Even I, the egg-skeptic, would have a go at these! Robyn confirmed that the creamy scrambled ones were also excellent.

Having eaten a bit of fruit at home I felt I could justify a small but naughty order, picking out the sour cherry and chocolate muffin ($4.50) from the specials board and a dandelion latte ($3.50). The muffin tasted as good as it sounds and I liked the mild, milky drink a lot - I'll keep an eye out for it in preference to chai when I'm eating something sweet. As we ate, my eyes occasionally returned to the specials board, and I noticed any number of tempting vego options for lunch.

We felt welcome to take our time with our food and linger over second coffees, just soaking up the atmosphere and watching several young families celebrate a child's birthday at a neighbouring table. The cafe was much more crowded the first time we visited, and I guess it was the grey sky that kept some locals away and allowed us this breathing room.

Eventually it was time to move on, and we took a tour through the vege patches that lead up to the markets. We bought some fruit to snack on later - the grapes looked set to burst with colour and flavour! - and I was most pleased to buy a fantastic new handmade bag after several months of listless shopping. (It's just the right size to fit my 'blog tools'; a camera, mini-tripod and notebook.)

As we walked back past the pond and out the gate, I was struck by how lucky we are to have CERES so close by and how relaxed I felt after our couple of hours there. I promised myself that a lot less time will pass before I'm back again.

Address: corner of Roberts and Stewart Sts, Brunswick East
Ph: 9387 2609
Licensed

Price: veg breakfasts ~$4-14
Website: www.ceres.org.au