Brighton the Corner

Most grown-ups have an arch-nemesis to their weekend lie-ins: an expensive gym membership, overzealous kids. For anxious food lovers, a bad case of FOMOOB (fear of missing out on breakfast) will do it.

On a crisp Saturday morning, it is the latter that pulls me from slumber. It is scarcely nine, and I am lining up outside Brighton the Corner in Petersham, desperate not to miss out on the Instagram-famous crumpets that are said to sell out by mid-morning.  

The competition is stiff. The cafe may be less than two months old, but it is packed to the gills with local fans. And although it's tucked away on the quiet side of the train tracks, owners Scott Lincoln Duncan (ex-Fleetwood Macchiato) and Nigel Park (co-owner of Corduroy) are clearly shaking things up in a suburb which – until recently – has been riding on the coattails of its famous Portuguese tarts and charcoal chicken.

Occupying the former site of Petersham's oldest bar, the renovated space has a soft industrial finish flooded with natural light. Duncan and Park did the entire fitout themselves – ripping out a two-metre wall around the kitchen, sanding wooden floorboards and installing a nostalgic black and white awning.    

Brighton the Corner is a tribute to the duo's favourite things. The cafe's name is a nod to a beloved Pavement album (Brighten the Corners) and the menu is a shortlist of labour-intensive dishes that Duncan has always loved.

"We're curing and smoking our own salmon, our beef burgers are cold-smoked. We just try and do as much as we can in-house. All our jams, marmalades and yoghurts are made here," he says.   

The 13-hour braised brisket is a protein lover's dream. Served with crunchy potato hash, a poached egg and beer-battered onion rings, it is the chef’s version of bubble and squeak on steroids. Thank goodness for the lashings of tangy mojo verde (Spanish parsley sauce), which cuts through the richness of the soft, unctuous beef. A house-made watermelon and basil soda is delightfully refreshing and makes a perfect accompaniment to the cold weather dish.

Another crowd favourite is the hot-smoked salmon, using apple wood chips. Beyond the humble ingredient roll call (pickled radish, fennel, peas, quinoa and poached egg) is a dish so delicately complex, the first bite is likely to give you a brain freeze. The umami-packed, smoky flavour is intensified by a 24-hour cure in a bath of pure maple syrup, organic evaporated cane juice, salt and water. Duncan later explains the recipe is his way of imbuing the spirit of bacon into the fish. Crazy, but it works.   

Vegetarians can bask in the house-made granola or fried mushrooms with kale and lemon thyme butter. We have saved just enough room to share the crumpets (which we pre-ordered at the start) with caramelised pear and Dulwich Hill honey butter.

A friendly waiter brings over our coffees, a lightly roasted house blend that makes a silky, chocolaty macchiato. Then the crumpets arrive, accompanied by a warm, non-judgmental smile. How quickly did we devour the fluffy, golden discs resembling a cross between crumpets and scones? It was long enough for the butter to melt into a delicious syrupy puddle – and for us to agree that the weekend lie-in is occasionally worth sacrificing.

THE LOW-DOWN
THE PICKS HOUSE-MADE CRUMPETS; HOT-SMOKED SALMON
THE COFFEE BRIGHTON THE CORNER HOUSE BLEND
THE LOOK SOFT INDUSTRIAL FINISH WITH A BRIGHT INTERIOR
THE SERVICE FRIENDLY AND UPBEAT