The Old Butcher Shop Cafe

The bucolic Victorian town of Seville is two stops "down the line", as the locals say from Launching Place, where Paul Fenech recently filmed a scene of his SBS comedy, Housos. A swish cafe recently opened in Seville's historic butcher shop, the last original facade standing outside a new shopping complex.

Locals have swarmed to the Old Butcher Shop Cafe since it opened in September, so it's no surprise that bookings are now essential at weekends. No remnants of the butcher shop are visible, just the lettering "BUTCHER" etched into the wall above the door. Only the cheeky sign advertising "well-hung meat" is missing from the front of the shop, which has been owned and run by the Stewart family for 70 years. Third-generation butcher Leanne Stewart moved her family business inside the new complex and transformed the old shop from a tiled meat mart into an airy, light-filled cafe with the help of chef and restaurant consultant, David Kayser, former executive sous-chef at the Sofitel and the Windsor.

The result is a lovely space. Exposed brick walls are hung with local art for sale. Nice flourishes include stretched hessian coffee sacks from Brazil. The coffee served is Amazing Coffee from the Yarra Valley, which is imported from Java by a woman who lives in the nearby town of Wandin. Her parents pick the beans. Local, organic produce is a big part of the ethos and features heavily on the menu, as do house-cured ham and bacon.

Tall wooden shelves stock a boutique selection of wines, and the display cabinet groans with house-made goods including slabs of chicken-liver pate, thick sausage rolls, flourless fig tarts, a hearty vanilla slice and deliciously light caramel eclairs.

Vegetarians who can get past the signage are well catered for, as are the gluten intolerant. For meat lovers, the Butcher's Breakfast ($19.30) includes bacon and chipolata, as well as eggs, relish, spinach, slow-roasted tomatoes, mushrooms, baked beans and toast. It is also on offer for two with salmon and rosti ($38).

The spelt pancakes with candied bacon and maple syrup ($16) are a nice take on the Canadian staple. The pancakes are delicately grainy and the bacon is abundant, if not crisp. The homemade crumpets with whipped citrus ricotta, poached stonefruit, cinnamon and honey syrup ($11) are more pikelet than crumpet, but tasty nonetheless.

Smoothies and spiders lend a retro milk-bar chic, and the freshly squeezed juices, served in small glass bottles and jars, include an exquisite apple juice, which is exactly like drinking a granny smith.