This was published 9 years ago
Mr Hendricks lifts the restaurant stakes in Balwyn
There is no breakfast menu in the neighbourhood quite like this one, writes Kylie Northover.
By Kylie Northover
MR HENDRICKS
469 WHITEHORSE ROAD, BALWYN. 9830 7579.
Divine partnership: Crispy eggs at Mr Hendricks.Credit: Scott Barbour
Tues-Fri 7.30am-4.30pm; weekends 8am-4pm.
Whitehorse Road isn’t exactly a hot spot for fine dining, but Mr Hendricks, a recent addition to the somewhat jaded shopping strip east of Balwyn Road, might just be the start of something. The stylishly fitted out space is a family affair, but the all-day breakfast and lunches turned out by brothers and chefs Simon and Ryan Cosentino are anything but homely.
Perfect pair: The breakfast cassoulet.Credit: Scott Barbour
Simon, the eldest, spent eight years working with Phillipe Mouchel at Brasserie and PM24, and with two-Michelin-starred chef Serge Vieira in France. Younger brother and apprentice chef Ryan also worked at PM24, and their menu is heavily French influenced. Working front-of-house is younger brother Jonathan, and the design was courtesy of sister Sarah, an interior architect, and her architect partner Stephen McGarry.
"And mum and dad were financial backers - it’s a real family-run business," says Sarah. "It’s something we’ve wanted to do for years. We grew up in the area and recognised the gap in the market around here for this kind of dining experience."
There’s certainly no breakfast menu like it anywhere nearby - their current winter menu (which will change seasonally), includes your obligatory granola (house-toasted and served with strawberry and rhubarb compote and vanilla yoghurt, $12.50), a dessert menu-worthy coconut porridge with banana jam and candied almonds and raisins ($12.50) and avocado on toast (albeit a sophisticated incarnation with feta, lime and corn salsa, $16/$17 with poached egg) but the Cosentino brothers’ high-end French influences really shine in the heartier dishes like the crispy eggs, fast becoming the cafe’s most popular breakfast, and the breakfast cassoulet.
The crispy eggs are soft-boiled, then rolled in panko breadcrumbs and deep-fried for just 30 seconds, creating a divine partnership of runny yolk and almost-sweet, crispy outer layer, and served with an enormous salad of chunks of ham hock, sweet potato puree, fennel, radish and walnuts on sourdough toast ($18). The Mr Hendricks take on cassolet is equally as impressive, with ham hock, meltingly tender confit duck, Toulouse sausage, persillade and fried eggs ($21).
"The French brioche toast (with vanilla poached pears, caramel sauce and double cream, $14.50) is also really popular," says Sarah. "We really wanted to introduce high quality food and a pleasant dining experience at a more affordable price. The dining experience and food are very important to us - we have an Italian background so food has always been a part of our upbringing."
Coffee is by Brunswick boutique roaster Padre and bread and pastries from Brioche by Philip, and there’s also a selection of house-made cakes. The space, which extends out the back of the completely overhauled former rubber shop and features a tiered courtyard including a space that can be fenced off for private functions, also makes Mr Hendricks unique in the area.
"There’s Snow Pony, which has been here for years, and a lot of average cafes, but nothing with our courtyard area and, in terms of menu, there’s nothing that compares on the main strip, and even in the eastern suburbs there’s not that much," says Sarah. "But there’s a prominent sense of community here, with schools nearby and the library across the road. Because we grew up in the area, whenever I’m here I see faces I recognise, but we’re also starting to get people travelling here, too."
And who is Mr Hendricks? Despite the surname, he’s yet another family member.
We grew up in the area and recognised the gap in the market around here for this kind of dining experience.
Sarah Cosentino
"He’s our English Staffy," says Sarah. "It’s a bit sentimental, but he’s the common link between us all."