Melbourne cafes pushing boundaries to win Instagram crowd

DECONSTRUCTED coffee and doughnut burgers are just some of the good-looking gimmicks Melbourne cafes are serving up to woo the Instagram crowd.

Michael Gudgeon of The Kitchen with the deconstructed long macchiato. Picture: Ellen Smith

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REMEMBER when coffee was served in a cup? Or scrambled eggs on a plate? Even ice cream in a cone?

In a not too distant future we might be looking back on those good old days, as Melbourne cafes increasingly push boundaries with food presentation in order to win customers.

And in the rush to be noticed, DIY has moved out of Bunnings and into hip cafes.

Order a coffee in some inner-city cafes and you’ll be presented with an espresso, hot milk and water in three separate beakers to create your own brew. They are served on a wooden paddle, of course.

Now it seems it’s not enough to simply queue for breakfast, we have to make it ourselves, too, with deconstructed coffees and multi-part hot chocolates served alongside the filter, cold-press and single-origin brews.

The “deconstructed coffee” served at The Kitchen at Weylandts furniture store in Abbotsford became a viral sensation this week when writer Jamila Rizvi posted a picture on Facebook of the coffee with the caption: “Hipsterdom has gone too far. This must stop, dear Melbourne. This must stop.”

With more than 2 million views and more than 6500 comments, the post struck a nerve with a fed-up public, just like the #wewantplates social media movement that campaigns against cafes serving food on wooden boards, polished slate and house tiles.

Manager Kirstin Wearmouth said the three-part coffee in question was a long macchiato and was created to cater to fussy coffee drinkers, not hipsters.

“Many people ask for extra milk or water on the side when they order a long macchiato. So we thought why not make it simple for them and bring it all at once,” she said.

“I’ve never had anyone send it back. They usually are impressed.”

We are yet to see a “coffee in a cone”, the craze taking South Africa by storm where coffee is served in a chocolate-lined wafer cone. But it could find its way here, given it has been shared more than 1 million times on Instagram.

It’s this phone-toting, Instagram-posting crowd that’s causing some Melbourne cafes to present food in increasingly outlandish ways.

Baked brioche buns coated in cinnamon sugar and stuffed with whipped Oreo mascarpone at Left Field. Picture: Eugene Hyland

White Mojo serves the croissant burger. Picture: David Caird.

Co-owner of Glover’s Station in Elsternwick Mary-Jane Daffy said while their dishes were classically presented without gimmicks, social media had changed how cafes approached the creation of brunch dishes.

“We have customers come in who don’t order from the menu but from Instagram. They scroll through and the photo that looks best, that’s what they order,” she said.

“People always eat with their eyes, but now they expect their initial reaction to be ‘wow’.”

This has led to a wave of novelty mash-ups at cafes across the city, from the soft-shelled crab croissant burger at CBD hot spot White Mojo, through the doughnut burger at Mammoth in Armadale, all noteworthy for the novelty factor that ensures lots of social media “likes”.

It’s a pressure felt by all new cafes but if they get it right, the crowds will come.

At Left Field in Carnegie, the hungry hordes are happy to wait for up to an hour to get their hands on chef Ryan Lording’s signature Oreo sliders.

Ice cream sliders anyone? Picture Rebecca Michael

The pretty plate takes two baked brioche buns coated in cinnamon sugar and stuffed with whipped Oreo mascarpone.

“I wanted to create something new, something nobody else is doing,” Mr Lording said.

And these innovations are not limited to cafes. Cold Rock Ice Creamery this week launched ice cream sliders, wrapped and served in a box just like a real burger.

Diners choose their ice cream flavour and “sauce” — chocolate (barbecue), caramel (mustard) or raspberry (tomato) — which is all smashed together and scooped into a warm, toasted brioche bun.

From ice cream burgers and DIY coffee experiments, who knows what the #nextbigthing Melbourne’s cafes have in store.

Just watch out for a deconstructed omelete. You might be served a chicken.

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