Mr Tucci cafe making its mark with lively coffee and nourishing food that delights the senses

PORRIDGE and I have never got on. Ever. Not even a road trip through Scotland — the spiritual home of this brekky staple — could convince me that porridge is anything but sticky stodge. Why, then, am I dipping my spoon into a big bowl of the stuff at Mr Tucci in Glen Iris and looking for more?

Simon Plant

2 min read

July 27, 2018 - 3:00PM

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Why, then, am I dipping my spoon into a big bowl of the stuff at Mr Tucci in Glen Iris and looking for more?

Perhaps it’s because this particular porridge, fashioned from quinoa and oats, is superheated and dense with stewed, vanilla-scented quince and apple. Quinoa crunch, lemon juniper jelly and a blueberry lime compote seal the deal ($15).

“It’s one of our big sellers,’’ say co-owners Massimo and Fabian Crea.

But it’s not the only one. The concise menu at Mr Tucci (named after their grandad, Giovanni) springs more than a few sweet and savoury surprises.

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Mr Tucci cafe in Glen Iris. Picture: Nicki Connolly

FOOD

It’s easy to think Mr Tucci is on a health kick. A lot of dishes carry symbols denoting their vegetarian, vegan or gluten-free content, but chef Greg Sandjaja knows how to trick ’em up so they’re nourishing and downright playful.

Just look at his cocoa granola ($15), which sets shards of Rice Bubble chocolate in a giddy swirl of poached strawberries and rhubarb, coconut flakes and candied lemon yoghurt.

Mr Tucci’s sourdough waffle ($17) is equally colourful, with marsala-roasted pear, sour grapes and pistachios.

Mr Tucci cafe’s quinoa and oat porridge Picture: Nicki Connolly

A generously proportioned tasting plate ($20) unites the waffle with downsized versions of two other savoury dishes.

On one side, a (rather too soft) potato and black bean rosti on smoked capsicum puree. On the other, a single poached egg riding avocado and lobes of glistening maple bacon.

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A warm ‘winter salad’ ($16) tumbles kale, quinoa, radish, cucumber and heirloom cherry tomatoes ($4 more gets you crispy organic tofu) but on a wet, windy afternoon, can you really resist the Mr T Burger ($20)?

It’s got the lot: lashings of coffee-spiced beef brisket with zingy slaw, Swiss cheese and house-made barbecue sauce.

Mr Tucci co-owner Fabian Crea making coffee. Picture: Nicki Connolly

DRINK

Mr Tucci has a coffee offer like no other. The barista breakfast ($8) delivers single-origin beans three ways: 150ml flat white, espresso and filter. It’s a neat idea but it needs to be delivered pronto. Ours wasn’t and suffered the cool consequences. Nudie juices, Strange Love soft drinks and $5 shakes also please the punters.

SERVICE

Friendly floor staff needed a guiding hand during our weekend visit. We had to fetch our own cutlery, twice.

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X FACTOR

Nice fit-out. Light streams into Mr Tucci, glazed black tiles pattern the walls and the front counter is topped with granite. You sit on renovated schoolroom chairs … OK for brekky but they don’t encourage you to linger.

Mr Tucci cafe’s tasting plate of savoury dishes, including poached egg and maple bacon, potato rosti on capsicum puree and sourdough waffle with pear. Picture: Nicki Connolly

BANG FOR YOUR BUCK

Pretty competitive. Hard to find anything that breaches the $20 mark.

VERDICT

Two months old, Mr Tucci is shaking up brunch in Melbourne’s leafy east. Not everything hits the bullseye but the hospitable Crea brothers (who also manage Mt Waverley’s Son of Tucci cafe) are working hard to satisfy everyone … including the porridge averse.

simon.plant@news.com.au