Just Open: Jack Horner Corner Store and Canteen, Brunswick

Jack Horner is the 21st century corner store and canteen by chef and author Matt Wilkinson and Ben Foster, partners in Pope Joan and Hams and Bacon food store in nearby Brunswick.

At the tray-tracked canteen counter, customers pootle past head chef Travis Welch (ex-Circa, Pope Joan) while he talks through the dishes behind the glass. Four Le Creuset pots on the induction top might contain bolognese, or tofu and okra laksa. Further along, there's free-range ham, poached salmon, house-made cheeses and pickles, and eight vegetarian salads. There might be a Cajun brown rice and biodynamic wheat salad, or organic vegie salad with smoked yoghurt dressing.

Why a canteen? "I say why not a canteen?" says Wilkinson. "It's fun, you get to make choices and be involved, without needing to see words on a menu."

Breakfast is a tick-the-box card-menu, with jaffles, poached egg combos, muesli and banoffee waffles.

A small section of the long, glass-fronted space is devoted to noble necessities such as loo paper that donates profits to building toilets in developing countries, organic pet food, biodynamic milk, and products that contain only sustainably sourced palm oil, and no GM ingredients.

It's the new-age milk bar, open daily 7am to 8.30pm, and it could be coming to a corner near you; Wilkinson aims to roll out more around Melbourne soon.

Jack Horner, 179 Weston Street, Brunswick East 9388 1825 jackhorner.net