All-inclusive salads at Cafe Parker in Rosebery

Cafe Parker sits inside a grand 1920s red brick interwar functionalist building, once home to Parker Furniture, the revered Australian manufacturers of mid-century modern design.

There are no Parker chairs, tables or cabinets inside but Tony Parker, who spearheaded the company's modern furniture designs, is aware of the cafe inside his former workplace. He is 92 and still advising the furniture industry. There are plans to invite him in for a cuppa and create a corner display of Parker furniture in tribute.

Perhaps in tribute to the wide array of customers at Cafe Parker, the decor and furnishings are a blend of sturdy, utilitarian black, comfortably scoopy and delicately green.

Big and small wooden tables are surrounded by latticed and stitched leather chairs and draped with trailing plants. Sunlight streams in through ceiling high windows and walls bear original paintings and photographs.

The air is filled with conversation from muscled laptop-holding men in tight pants and beautifully dressed women carefully eating huge bowls of salad. Various tables are accompanied by dogs on leads.

This will seem to some like "just another enormous cafe", but a closer look reveals a finessed focus on healthy food and great efforts to accommodate all-comers. Cafe Parker is run by hospitality group Hunger led by managing and creative director Paul Schulte. His business partner at the venue, Rick Kessell, welcomes all but emphasises the complete lack of hamburgers and chips.

"We don't do deep-fried food,' he says. "We just have healthy, lighter options, something more and more people are looking for."

This is not to say Cafe Parker is offering a complex array of health foods ringed with chia, matcha, goji berries and beet juice. There may be no Chiko Rolls on their menu, for example, but there is an oozy bacon and egg roll filled with crispy grilled rashers, fried free-range eggs and spiced tomato relish on a St Malo milk bun.

On a cold spring morning you can warm up with porridge made with oat milk, cinnamon, diced dates, caramelised peaches and honeycomb. It's a long way from a hash brown squirted with tomato sauce.

You can also get a chicken schnitty but it comes as an add-on for one of four salads including barbecued corn, Brussel Caesar, Tuscan panzanella and Japanese noodle.

It's a lesson in human nature ordering one of these. The schnitty, one of four protein add-ons including smoked salmon, beef brisket and poached chicken, is included in the price, $15 or $17 takeaway or $21 eat-in. No one ordering at the front counter can quite believe they don't cost more.

When the staff member then points at optional, all-included toppings, ranging from sprouts, chilli nuts, ramen egg and sourdough crumbs, people hesitate again. Is this going to cost $5 more? No. It's like a free lucky food dip except you get to sprinkle spicy cashews on your smoked fish and cured Italian meat salad.

The Japanese noodle salad is a fat mini mountain of shiitake soba noodles with sliced shiitake, red cabbage and a sesame and soy dressing dotted with mint, coriander and ginger. The barbecued corn is a mix of charred corn and zucchini, pumpkin, pepitas and fresh mint and salad greens.

The Brussel Caesar is a vast bowl of charred Brussels sprouts, anchovies and crunchy pancetta with a coating of parmesan.

Chef Robert Mata, ably supported by his partner Samantha Williamson, is creating these fine dishes in a nearby open kitchen with panache from a menu first designed by chef Adam Burke, known for Sunset Sabi.

There are breakfast smoothies ranging from berry and oats, banana and mango and a peanut butter version laced with honey, dates and oats.

Good strong coffee comes from Seven Miles and a cabinet featues Butterboy biscuits and St Malo croissants.

We're all too full of fibre and charred vegetables to contemplate such things. Our blood sugars thank Cafe Parker profusely.