Not all heroes wear capes. Some wear leather aprons and are more likely to get excited about steam wands, extraction times and golden crema than they are about spandex suits or supervillains. The gun baristas at these cafés pump out top-notch coffee day after day – and they won’t turn you away if you’re paying by card.
Bakery Lane seems the perfect place to find a brownie palace serving housemade, gluten-free goodies. Staff are sweet as can be, decked out American diner-style in a pink dresses, complete with white aprons secured with a bow. They’re as busy as bees ferrying steaming cups of Merlo coffee and plate, after plate of brownies to Bakery Lane's central outdoor courtyard. The eat-in/takeaway menu is long and luscious and we can't go past the brownie with a liquid burst of salted caramel at its heart.
Fox Street, Albion is a curious patch: industrial ugliness sharing space with pretty Fox Street Gardens, Emile and Solange fromagerie and the decent coffee of Vieille Branche. The café is brim full with bric-a-brac and is a creative space for workshops (spoon carving anyone?) The menu is French accented: think tartines and our pick, omelette filled with oozing Camembert and earthy mushrooms. Wash it down with an organic Bare Bones coffee and take it with if you're on the hoof.
Flour and Chocolate are masters of bread and patisserie. You'll be hard pressed to find a better baguette, and their selection of patisserie items is something to behold including daily specials such as Monday's sticky cinnabuns, Tuesday's cream-loaded bee stings and Wednesday's sweetly sugared and filled donuts. The cabinet boasts brownies, blondies and pretty little bar cakes swathed in icing, while shelves are stacked with everything imaginable to compliment bread –house-made jams, mustards, pickles, sauces, spreads and chutneys. In the fridge you'll find a bread-friendly cheese selection and a lovely range of King Valley Dairy cultured butters.
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