Better latte than never: Toorak village finally gets seriously good coffee (and food) at new cafe Yuca

You can get a decent flat white in Toorak. But until Yuca opened on Friday, September 15, there was a dearth of specialty next-wave coffee in the affluent inner-eastern enclave.

Yuca is at the top of Toorak Village in the cluster of 1930s mock-Tudor shops that once housed society hairdresser Lillian Frank. The 45-seat cafe is the third from the young Hospokendra group, which also has Dumbo in West Footscray and Sani in Brunswick East.

“We weren’t thinking of opening on this side of town,” says director Raju Ghimire, who came to Australia from Nepal in 2007, initially as a cookery student. “But we really liked the building, and then I walked around the neighbourhood and thought there was a place for something different. There’s a lot we can do here in terms of the culture of coffee and brunch.”

The team oversaw the renovation, combining two tenancies in a flowing earth-toned space decked with terrazzo, Tasmanian oak and brass accents.

As at Dumbo and Sani, the Yuca menu is by chef Sam Terranova, who plucks ideas from all over to create an exciting multicultural menu.

Japanese eggs are served with fried spam and okonomiyaki garnishes. Rare roast beef comes with house-made artichoke focaccia, bone marrow butter and pistachio tapenade. Mushrooms are cooked with gochujang and eaten with spring onion pancake and kimchi. And handmade crab agnolotti is doused with saffron veloute.

Sweet surrender comes in the form of boozy brioche with dark caramel, honeycomb and chocolate fudge gelato. “We don’t do a classic big breakfast,” says Ghamire. “We’re about interesting flavours and a sophisticated daytime offering.”

“I walked around the neighbourhood and thought there was a place for something different.”

Hospokendra director Raju Ghimire

Espresso and pour-over coffee comes from local roasters Proud Mary and ONA, with single-origin specials sourced from bespoke suppliers.

In a cute touch, striped coffee cups are painted with secret messages that become visible when the last sip is taken. The slow reveal is on-theme for Yuca, another name for the root vegetable cassava.

“The word caught me,” says Ghimire. “It matches us: we want to develop our roots, grow quietly, not too showy, just be a good thing.”

Open Mon-Fri 7am-3pm, Sat-Sun 8am-3pm.

1A Grange Road, Toorak, 03 8905 3934, yucamelbourne.com.au