Goldilocks Cafe

PAUL Mathis is back after a four-year hiatus. The master of the concept restaurant will have six new ventures by the end of next month.

He is more than halfway there: Henry and the Fox and Firechief opened late last year, Coffeehead came next and last month Goldilocks, a breezy, brunchy cafe down the cobbled lane behind Firechief, joined the fold.

The outrageously prolific Mathis has a swag of start-ups to his name: Blue Train; Transport, Taxi and Transit; Chocolate Buddha; Soulmama; Upper and Lower House; 100 Mile Cafe, and it's exciting that he's empire-building again.

Goldilocks has the same minimalist, modern stamp as its forebears: a high-ceilinged airy space, its many sash windows painted in sunny yellow. Details maketh the room: expect handsome tables - blond-timbered, metal and heavy oak - a quirky coat rack made from vintage bowling pins, and fresh flowers in milk-bottle vases.

The one-page menu runs all day, effortlessly straddling brunch, lunch and a lazy 2pm brekkie.

Free-range eggs come poached, scrambled, fried, baked (in spicy paprika with capsicum sauce) or sous vide, cooked in a water bath at 62.5 degrees. Cooking eggs sous vide means the albumen stays translucent and isn't as white as when plunged directly in boiling water. They look underdone but pierce the yolk and the texture is perfectly soft. All poached eggs at Goldilocks are done this way but will be cooked longer on request.

The sous vide signature dish is teamed with a slender fillet of tender, crisp-skinned Tasmanian salmon, while the eggs are on a fat, airy piece of toast. Load up with extras including whipped goat's cheese, charry asparagus spears and whole portobello mushrooms.

On another dish, pulled pork is cooked rosti-style (a touch dry, perhaps, so add the herby chilli salsa) and teamed with a sparky Asian slaw and two excellent fried eggs.

Is there porridge? Three types (one for each bear): classic oat; sweet and creamy rice, flecked with vanilla bean and served cold; and a bircher made with fine oats, grated apple, fresh orange juice and toasted almonds or macadamias. Porridge pimpers are deeply cool: gusty organic leatherwood honey, toasty organic granola, poached fruit, stewed dried fruits, buffalo yoghurt and fresh berries.

The coffee is dark and strong, with crema on the thin side and some rather complex latte art. There's colouring-in for the children. The cutlery is quality. And the service is professional. But when you have 17 businesses under your belt, what do you expect? Hawthorn East, you've been Mathis-ed.

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nrousseau@theage.com.au