Mitte Café
| Where | 76 Michael Street (cnr Rowe Street), Fitzroy North, VIC 3068—View map |
Contact | 03 9077 7379 |
Website | — |
Open | Monday, Wednesday–Friday 7.30am to 4.00pm Breakfast until 4.00pm |
Payment | EFTPOS, Visa, Mastercard, Cash |
Diet | Check with venue |
Seating | Inside and outside |
Kids | Welcome |
Pets | Welcome |
Well worth the wait
Clare Marshall 9 October 2008
‘Please be good, please be good,' was my muttered mantra as I walked past the construction site that is now Mitte Café. My boyfriend and I had being watching Mitte's transformation from derelict corner store to spiffy new café for several months, hoping for the best. It's not that we're lacking good breakfast eateries in North Fitzroy, but the chance of a great one opening just 100 metres from our house was pretty exciting.
Luckily for us, and other North Fitzroy locals, Mitte is yet another fine example of the off-the-beaten path café. Situated on a sunny residential corner, between the main drags of St Georges Road and Queens Parade, Mitte is up there with hideaway gems such as Fitzroy's Min Lokal and A Minor Place in East Brunswick.
Named after Berlin's hip café quarter, Mitte is a stylish yet unpretentious addition to the inner-Melbourne breakfast scene. The former corner store has been transformed into a sunny, warm and inviting space thanks to its huge windows, clean white walls and cute decorative touches like oversized metal letters and miniature glass condiment bottles that are straight out of a science lab. There's even a resident cat keeping watch from the sun-drenched window seat.
Mitte's menu is surprisingly broad, given that all food is cooked in a makeshift kitchen behind the counter. The breakfast crumble-cinnamon poached pears and apples topped with melt-in-your-mouth macadamia crumble and marscapone ($8.50) -already has a dedicated following. Another popular dish is the poached eggs ‘Caesar style'-a kind of deconstructed Caesar salad ($15). Delicious condiments like crab apple jelly and tomato relish are sourced from the Collingwood College Kitchen Garden, and all bread is supplied by legendary local bakery Dench.
The drinks list is another plus. Rather than stocking one company's entire range, Mitte offers beverages from a wide variety of suppliers, including Phoenix, Pellegrino and Tea Party Teas. Coffee is consistently good and there is a broad and interesting tea selection that features both leaf teas and infusions such as Moroccan Mint.
Mitte serves a wide range of food all day and (almost) every day. This, teamed with good coffee, friendly service and a cosy, welcoming environment, means it pulls enviable crowds just one month after opening. Looks like my mantra-muttering paid off ...