North Hobart cafe Sweet Sassafras says sourcing local Tassie produce really important

North Hobart cafe Sweet Sassafras offers a relaxed vibe that makes Friday morning feel more like a Sunday, writes Loretta Lohberger.

Sweet Sassafras cafe in North Hobart. Picture: NIKKI DAVIS-JONES

IT’S Friday morning and I know I have a busy day ahead. Instead of rushing straight into work, I decide to get up a bit earlier and enjoy a cafe breakfast on my way in.

I stop at Sweet Sassafras on Elizabeth St, just out of the busy North Hobart restaurant strip. Here it feels more like a Sunday — cafe owners and friends Isis St Pierre and Maya McDonell are relaxed and chatting to customers as they serve breakfasts and coffees.

I feel immediately welcome and part of the community they have built since they opened a little more than a year ago.

Grain bowl served at Sweet Sassafras cafe in North Hobart. Picture: NIKKI DAVIS-JONES

One of the first questions I’m asked is if I have any dietary requirements. I’m vegetarian, which is no problem — most of the menu is — and meat eaters are able to add meat if they wish. McDonell, a former vegetarian who remembers how difficult that was during the 1990s, tells me there are also many gluten-free and vegan options.

I decide on the sweet waffles served with seasonal fruit — today it’s nectarines and strawberries — roasted hazelnuts, whipped cream and maple syrup, and a cup of tea.

Sweet Sassafras has a strong focus on local ingredients. The savoury waffles include cherry tomatoes from a grower who lives so close she walks in with her produce.

McDonell, who does most of the cooking, says she and St Pierre get a list from their supplier farmers each week, which can dictate what they serve.

Vegetarian lasagne at Sweet Sassafras cafe in North Hobart. Picture: NIKKI DAVIS-JONES

“Things like the satay grain bowl, the veg will change,” McDonell says.

“Sourcing locally is really important to us.”

I overhear St Pierre saying to one customer: “Everything’s available except the Tassie avocados because they’re not ripe yet.”

The Sweet Sassafras menu lists the local growers and makers the cafe supports.

And if an ingredient is highly packaged, it’s not something St Pierre and McDonell will buy. They try to reduce waste wherever they can — they provide reusable napkins and straws and encourage customers buying food to takeaway to bring their own containers.

The cafe’s food scraps are fed to farm animals and Sweet Sassafras also offers zero waste catering.

Sweet waffles with local seasonal fruit, whipped cream, roasted local hazelnuts, edible flowers and maple syrup. Picture: NIKKI DAVIS-JONES

“We want to support local farmers but we also want to reduce packaging and that sort of goes hand-in-hand,” McDonell says.

“We have a massive pile of tubs out the back with people’s names on them, whether it’s our tofu supplier or the lettuce supplier … it’s a little bit more work, but we think it’s really worthwhile.”

St Pierre, who sources most of the produce for the cafe, is a passionate supporter of urban farming. “Urban farming is so important for sustainability,” McDonell tells me while St Pierre makes a coffee for a customer.

“If you can get it delivered by walking and package-free, that’s really cool.”

I have another chance to enjoy a meal at Sweet Sassafras. This time it’s midweek for lunch. It’s a cooler day and rain is falling. I’m drawn to the vegetarian lasagne, which arrives decorated with edible flowers and is served with a green salad. It turns out to be the perfect lunch on a grey day. It’s nourishing and warming. I hear the lasagne is a popular dish that often sells out.

Again, I enjoy the relaxed vibe at Sweet Sassafras. McDonell tells me it was a deliberate choice for her and St Pierre to have a cafe out of the city centre where people are rushing around. They also did not want to be in North Hobart’s busy restaurant strip.

Providing a relaxing space is something St Pierre and McDonell wanted to do.

The location helps, but it is their laid back and friendly manner that is perhaps the biggest influence on the cafe’s vibe.

“On our first day that we opened we had this young dad and his little daughter come in and they had their shoes off and the kids had the toys out on the floor and that was a really nice thing,” McDonell says.

As customers come in for something to eat or a coffee, I notice St Pierre and McDonell know most of their names.

“That’s really important for us,” McDonell says. “Our happy thing for the year was the amazing community that we’ve built.”

SWEET SASSAFRAS

279 Elizabeth St, North Hobart

Open Monday to Friday 8am to 2.30pm

0475 175 095