The Local Press

On Saturdays the area surrounding Orange Grove Public School is full to bursting with the Farmers' Market crowd, stocking up on fruit and veg, goat's cheese, sourdough and flowers and lining up for bacon-and-egg rolls. On any other day this leafy pocket of Lilyfield is ghostly quiet, like a showground after the carnival has moved on.

But now a new café and roastery is here to keep the brekky train rolling by making everyday a double-egg and bacon butty day. Located only a block from the school, it gets insanely busy on Saturdays, but in the quiet of a post-market Sunday the Local Press is an easy-going place to mull over the coming Monday with some fritters for thought. The savoury fritters with a poached egg, bacon, avocado and a diced tomato salad are a little under seasoned, but a splash of hot sauce makes for an easy fix.

No summer scorcher is going to stand between us and caffeine, especially when there are big, glass mugs of iced coffee packed with ice and a little scoop of vanilla ice cream to be drunk. Want a sweet treat with your cuppa? A biscuit is good, but a salt-caramel tart from Luxe is great. Properly salted caramel is encased between a short chocolate base and a dark ganache topping and odds are offers to share will swiftly be rescinded.

Inside, things are cool and calm – white walls, white tiles and blonde wood – but for maximum local dog action grab a seat outside. Poodles, terriers and spaniels are only too happy to exchange pats for the possibility of gravity-gifted snacks and there’s children’s play equipment in the adjoining square so little ones are kept occupied. We’re getting a good read on the Local Press.