Melbourne Patron

(As seen in GRAM magazine) Now officially THE CLOSEST cafe to my house, I am delighted to announce that new Collingwood addition, Lemon, Middle and Orange (25-31 Rokeby Street, Collingwood) does a decent dose of caffeine.  Secondarily, it is a few doors from my local watering hole, the Prince Patrick Hotel  (135 Victoria Parade, Collingwood) -- so now I can trot directly from brunch to the pub. Score!  Kidding. (Sort of.) Of course LM&O (or "the citrus place", as my housemate and I have taken to calling it) has benefits other than its proximity to the pub.  For instance: the decor. Originally an old paint factory, LM&O's premises were dolled up by upstairs neighbours John Wardle Architects , next-door neighbours Spacecraft Studio , and branding-crew-to-the-hip-and-delicious, Projects of Imagination . It's all pared-back blank surfaces of concrete, stainless steel, brick and loads of timber joinery -- with touches of yellow and brig...

My housemate and I have an ongoing list of places we want to try. One she has been mentioning for a while, Backstreet Eating (152 Kerr Street, Fitzroy), seemed appropriate for a weekend brunch we'd locked in. On the corner of Napier and Kerr, Backstreet Eating is just one block from Brunswick Street and aptly describes itself as "a modern neighbourhood bistro". Open seven days a week for three meals a day, this place seems to offer it all, and there is not much on the menu that doesn't appeal. We seriously considered a Bloody Mary, Mimosa or Bellini with brunch, but my housemate has just started Febfast, and I'm enough of a lush as it is. Items from the lunch (house-made gnocchi with goat ragu, anyone?) and cheese sections also greatly appealed, but we eventually settled on salmon gravlax for me, and avocado on toast for her, both with scrambled eggs. The food was delivered relatively quickly considering the place was full, and was faultlessly present...

Birdman Eating (238 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy) is one of those places I've been to for coffee or walked past heaps of times, without ever thinking to try the food. My new housemate informs me whenever she goes there, the breakfast special that always sounds really good has sold out, and she ends up getting the next special, which never sounds as good but is usually still yummy. I'd attempted to go for brunch here recently but it was packed, so we'd relocated. This time, it was happening! In a hangover-induced, zombie-like caffeine mission, we trudged in and sat ourselves at the window. It was hot and noisy outside, so we tried to swap to one of the footpath tables when someone left, but it had already been allocated so we had to wait. Third time lucky, we finally got a table outside (such a mission!) and our Espresso Syndicate coffees arrived quickly. Our friend simply wanted a manly plate of eggs and bacon, something sadly missing from Birdman Eating's offerings. All...