Maroondah’s best cafe: Heathmont’s Milk & Wine Co a hit with Leader readers

It has been open less than 12 months – but this Heathmont cafe is already a huge hit with locals, who have voted it Maroondah’s best.

The interior of Heathmont’s Milk and Wine Co. Picture: Phoebe Powell

They’ve been open for less than a year – but Heathmont’s Milk and Wine Co has already established itself as a sure-fire hit within the community.

The cafe has been crowned Maroondah’s best by Leader readers from a field of 14 nominees, ahead of Ringwood’s Leaf and Vine and the Warranwood General Store Cafe.

It opened for takeaway only at the old home of Barclays cafe at Heathmont Village shopping centre in April, just as the coronavirus pandemic took hold.

Along with using St Ali coffee, the cafe did a range of take-home meals and special burger and taco nights during Melbourne’s lockdown.

It has since built up goodwill with its ‘Pay It Forward’ initiative, offering free meals, drinks and treats to less fortunate members of the community, and groups such as frontline health workers and Year 12 students.

Co-owner Samantha Hitt said she and husband Derek were “very humbled” by the support they’d received from readers and regular customers.

Ms Hitt said the cafe prided itself on providing a warm and friendly atmosphere for diners.

“There’s always people commenting on our staff and how friendly everyone is, and we’ve worked really hard to create that culture,” she said.

“We’ve given as much to the community as they have to us, and we feel we’ve built up a rapport with all the locals,” she said.

Ms Hitt said Milk & Wine Co was now enjoying seeing people “eating off its plates” as part of its dine-in offering.

It includes a wine bar and grazing plates on selected nights of the week.

“We had a vision for what we wanted this place to be and had to put that aside for a while, but now with the wine bar we really feel we’re seeing what we hoped for,” she said.

“We built some real respect with how we’ve handled everything through COVID and the customers know what they’re going to get when they come, and that’s good food, good coffee and good service.”

Milk and Wine Co have now qualified as Maroondah’s entrant in the quest to find Victoria’s best cafe.

Competition ambassador and chef Matt Preston said: “Our local cafe winners are soon to appear in a statewide battle of the postcodes where the cream will rise to the top – as it always does!

“Don’t forget to have your say by checking out your state finalists and voting for your favourite.”