Contemporary cafe meets country cooking at Nancy in Pakenham

THEME: RETAIL CAFES

Shopping isn't my jam, unless it's for jam, then I'm fine with it. But shopping for anything other than food makes me instantly tired. The only solution is to have shopping and snacks in proximity, which is why a cafe like Nancy is so wonderful. This classy post-lockdown opening shares a warehouse with the family-run Robert Gordon pottery outlet: browse bowls then eat from them in the adjacent cafe.

Nancy is owned by husbands Josh O'Brien and Omar Viramontes. This is their third cafe, following Ferntree Gully's Lorna and Upwey's Maria: if you're well-caffeinated in the outer east, it's likely thanks to them! Each cafe is named after one of their grandmothers; Nancy was Josh's nana, an accomplished Tasmanian cook who also happened to be a potter.

Expect contemporary cafe fare with appealing country cooking touches (outstanding carrot cake lavished with cream cheese icing, for example) and influences from Omar's Mexican heritage.

The nachos are a case in point: proper nixtamalised corn chips are stabbed into a base of roasted sweet potato. Tomato relish, avocado and corn-and-black-bean salsa are scattered atop. It's an elegant version of a dish that is usually stodgily overdone.

The nachos are presented in a Robert Gordon platter that looks like an oversized taco. Not only do you get a great brunch, you glean ideas for using the pottery over yonder.

The very idea of a "health bowl" makes me hate January, with its preponderance of clean eating tosh. On the other hand, Nancy's version is not a pile of virtue-signalling chaff.

It's a generous and colourful array of delicious plant-based bits and pieces – turmeric-tinged cauliflower, roasted peppers, seed-scattered mashed avocado, pickled radish and zingy purple slaw, all prettily arranged in a Robert Gordon bowl.

Picnic tables and planter boxes dot a dog-friendly outdoor area that's probably a better place for small kids than the easily smashable store.

This is a semi-industrial area but the cafe has views to cow-dotted hills pegged for new houses. As Melbourne's sprawl continues, so does the march of cool cafes, with Nancy a Pakenham pioneer.

Nancy Eatery

Address 114 Mulcahy Road, Pakenham, 03 5941 3302, nancyeatery.com.au

Open Daily 9am-4pm

Prices Snacks & toasties: $7.50-$13.50; Brunch: $11-$21

Scoring is paused while the industry gets back on its feet

Also try

That's Amore

Come for this local cheesery's ricotta, burrata and mozzarella. Stay for a coffee and a cheese-spiked meal, maybe French toast filled with ricotta and chocolate, or fried eggs with extras and shaved ricotta salata. Cannolis are compulsory!

66 Latitude Boulevard, Thomastown, 03 9463 4222, thatsamorecheese.com.au

Hawkes Farm

This farm gate is worth visiting for the produce, much of it grown right here, and for Saturday's pick-and-ride strawberry and carrot adventures. But the best thing about Hawkes is their chip van. Potatoes grown on site are chipped and triple-fried in front of your ever-loving eyes.

661 Boneo Road, Boneo, 03 5988 6785, hawkesfarm.com.au

Hinoki Japanese Pantry

High quality sushi (sashimi, nigiri, maki) is available to take away plus there are pantry shelves with lots of alluring goodies such as Japanese craft gin, exceptional soba noodles, dashi and yuzu jam.

279 Smith Street, Fitzroy, 03 9417 4531, hinoki.com.au