Fruits of Passion
| Where | 188 Bellair Street, Kensington, 3031—View map |
Contact | 03 9376 8588 |
Website | — |
Open | Breakfast Monday–Sunday 7.30am to 2.30pm |
Payment | Cash |
Diet | Check with venue |
Seating | Inside and outside |
Kids | Welcome |
Pets | Welcome |
A neighbourhood favourite
Francesca Fogarty
There is something delicious and warm about a local. The faces are friendly and comforting, the smiles are real (well if they're not who cares, people are smiling) and time seems to slow down. There's passion in Kensington, and I'm not talking about the tastefully renovated terraces, or the stylish homeware stores popping up at every corner. Nope, I'm talking about fruits. Passionate Fruits. Fruits of passion.
Fruits of passion defines the word ‘local'. This family-run business, complete with newborn grandson, knows how to do brekkie and coffee. Even if they don't know your name, you know theirs.
A weekend staple for the residents of Kensington, this little gem doesn't try to be anything it's not. Going to Fruits means feeling like part of a community, well at least for those in the know. Locals wander in and out gossipping to one another about the week's events. They hold their babies under one arm, a paper under the other, and a steaming fresh latte delicately and skilfully alternates between mouth and hand. You can tell they've done it before.
The young and cool lounge outside, under the trees, watching neighbourhood kids race up and down the footpath, avoiding dogs, feet and each other.
Charming service by young fashionable staff, stunning coffee and perfectly poached eggs set the scene for a lazy Sunday (or Monday if you're that way inclined).
Inside is all exposed brick, marble and imaginative lighting. The coffee is to die for. Seriously. The coffee is perfect. Every single time. Don't bother asking for skinny milk, as the only milk used is Pura Light Start. These guys prove that no matter what the brand (Vittoria) it's the barista that makes good coffee, and this stuff is the hit.
Now I have to confess, this place is MY local, so I've had it all. My go to dish is the vegetarian deluxe-a pile of mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes, poached eggs, avocado, spinach and the infamous yummy dressing (it is yummy), atop lightly toasted ciabata. Whether you've got a hangover or you're just hungry, this meal is just what the doctor ordered.
As mentioned previously, the coffee is so good one is never enough, nor are two, but beware, considering the bathroom seriously leaves something to be desired (it's up a long graffiti-sprayed alleyway) you may wish to consider you're caffeine intake. Hamish, the self-proclaimed smoothie king, usually gets a blueberry smoothie to kick off the morning. ‘Perfect,' he reckons. Startling blue, thick with yoghurt, and the perfect temperature (cold cold cold), the smoothie is a meal in itself.
The usual suspects line the menu, Bircher muesli, Eggs Benedict (served on commercially bought fritters-which don't, contrary to my initial opinion, ruin them), and pancakes, sooth the masses. The pancakes are so big (no crepes here) that they're almost worth sharing (which we do sometimes as dessert) but beware, once the hot mixed berry sauce or hot caramel and banana sauce has been devoured, the leftover pancake may have to be sacrificed to Fido.
There are also a few interesting options: crumpets with blackberry jam that sticks on your fingers, cheeks and sometimes forehead (it's a mystery), take you back to childhood and the skinheads on a raft; and a savoury muffin with hot baked beans. Whilst the menu is not overly extensive, breakfast favourites do adorn it, and if you can't find something you fancy, you probably should be going out for lunch.