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The accidental vegetarians: Melbourne's almost-vegetarian cafes

Matt Holden

Chef Nate Wilkins with brussels sprouts and cauliflower for his Higher Ground restaurant.
Chef Nate Wilkins with brussels sprouts and cauliflower for his Higher Ground restaurant.Wayne Taylor

"Brussels sprouts are my favourite food," said nobody ever. But the compact brassicas have proved a surprising hit at one of Melbourne's hottest new cafes, Higher Ground.

"We're going through 40 kilos a week," says Higher Ground chef and co-owner Nate Wilkins. "That's 300 serves."

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Wilkins' brussels sprouts aren't boiled to mush the way you might remember them from Anglo-Oz Cooking 101. Nor do they get the slather of animal fat that many chefs use to render them tasty: they're grilled, caramelised and served quite toothy and sprinkled with lemon salt.

A smart cafe serving brussels sprouts is part of a trend to cook more creative plant-based dishes and minimise the use of meat. Of the 18 choices on Higher Ground's daytime menu, just five feature flesh.

"It was never a conscious decision to be plant-based," says Wilkins. Rather, he says, the vegetables are driven by his suppliers finding interesting varieties. There's plenty of kale – of course – and some cauliflower, a type with longer, less tightly packed florets that will be familiar to anyone who has shopped at a farmers' market this winter. "It's more a case of, 'Here's some cool produce, let's see what we can do with it'."

Wilkins says the cafe's use of meat is sparing because he demands high standards: pork comes from organic producer Bundarra Berkshires. Higher Ground takes their entire output of 60 kilograms a week.

"We could sell more than they can produce – so we serve 120 grams of bacon instead of 300 grams. But it's the best bacon you'll taste," Wilkins says.

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"Vegetables are more sustainable, and they give us an easy way to deal with diners' dietary requests, too."

The cauliflower scramble served at Higher Ground.
The cauliflower scramble served at Higher Ground.Paul Jeffers

Adam Pruckner echoes the sentiment. The menu at his brand-new Small Axe Kitchen in Brunswick is based on the culinary heritage of his Sicilian mother. "In Sicily meat was a luxury," he says. "So you took what was available – generally few ingredients – and made them into something delicious."

Only two dishes on Pruckner's menu use meat – one of meatballs, and one with a little guanciale (cured pork jowl) added to breakfast pasta with peas, salted ricotta and mint.

"In this area you have to cater to vegetarians and vegans," he adds.

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In Carnegie, chef Ryan Lording has watched locals queue outside cafe Left Field since it opened in May.

Small Axe Kitchen's granita with brioche.
Small Axe Kitchen's granita with brioche.Wayne Taylor

Lording offers a pulled pork benedict and smoky beef rib with fried egg, but the other 10 dishes he cooks are heavy on smashed peas, broccolini, kale, mushrooms, hummus and cauliflower: not your usual eggs-and-bacon cafe fare.

"The vegetable-based menu is something that has evolved," Lording says. "Over the past four years I've practised plant-based eating to educate myself about what health-minded customers look for."

"The objective of every chef is to create a menu that has an array of appealing dishes. But there's definitely still a massive role for meat. Life is all about balance."

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The five finalists for The Age Good Food Guide Cafe of the Year award are:

  • Glovers Station (Elsternwick)
  • Higher Ground (Melbourne)
  • Left Field (Carnegie)
  • Mammoth (Armadale)
  • Mayday Coffee & Food (Richmond)


The Age Good Food Guide 2017 award night, presented by Citi and Vittoria, is on September 12. The Guide will be on sale in newsagents and bookstores from September 13, with all book purchases receiving free access to the new Good Food app.

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