Just Open: The Grounds at St Columbs, Hawthorn

From your table in the leafy church grounds, which look like a location for a Miss Marple episode, it's easy to forget that busy Burwood Road is only a few metres away. The Grounds at St Columbs cafe has taken up residence in a Hawthorn church hall, with more tables around the broad lawn out the back.

Head chef Kevin Dick, whose CV includes stints at Cutler & Co and St Ali North, is serving Code Black coffee and breakfast and lunch dishes such as blueberry ricotta hot cakes, braised lamb and hummus sandwiches, salads made with leaves they grown in a nearby allotment, and house-made pastries.

Dialling up the feelgood factor, plans are under way for the non-profit cafe to become a training site for Ignite, Jesuit Social Services' hands-on hospitality training program for long-term unemployed people.

The Grounds at St Columbs is open Tuesday to Saturday 8am-3pm.

5 St Columbs Street, Hawthorn, 9818 0890.