166 Gertrude St
Fitzroy VIC 3065
HURRY: Open until 2 August
Urgh.
‘Pop-Up’… I never thought I’d write that without including a back-hander
about Gen Y, and cruffins. But
this one is actually pretty good.
You may be aware of a mooted building development
on Gertrude St; there’s going to be multi-storey apartments built
at the former site of an old hardware/paint store called Manfax.
While the developers wait (there
have been several appeals about the size of the intended development), they’ve
leased out the old paint shop. And
the result isn’t too bad.
(click the link below to read more...)
‘Well, I finally made it,' I say. 'Nice to see what the inside of Manfax
looks like now…’
‘I’m sorry? Manfax? What’s
that?’
The waiting staff are young, good looking,
wear black, and have no idea about l’histoire,
m’dear. And on Bastille Day, too. Quel dommage!
‘Oh, you know the hardware and paint shop
that used to be here…’
‘You live and learn…’ (thinks “I could have Googled it…”)
‘Yeah, well they’ve moved around the corner
to Smith St.’
‘Sit anywhere. On the benches is probably the cosiest…’
I sit and admire the views. Big windows, scraped of their old
shitty paint shop ads. The fit out is nice, even if fully demountable,
including light fittings and ceiling panels. Black ceilings, industrial strength black
window frames with a polished concrete floor, timber seats and tables, open
plan. Sticks and bushes crouch in
pots about the place.
I’m handed an embossed menu (“it’s the
little things”), and my attractive and charming waitress starts the show:
‘So, have you eaten here before, or are you
familiar with the Broadsheet concept?’
‘Yeah, I’ve heard of a broadsheet newspaper…’
‘Well that’s us. The food review magazine…’
(Food critic, i.e. moi-self, hides
his mild confusion) ‘I may
have seen it…?’ (thinks, “at Friends of
the Earth?”)
‘Anyway, it’s our pick of our favourite
dishes from around different cafés around Melbourne. A bit of a best of, a pick and mix, and so it’s quite
eclectic.’
I wonder if the cafés and eateries “quoted”
in the menu were paid? Or do you think those businesses are "contributors"? Probably the latter. This project seems to be at the pointy end
of entrepreneurship.
The bar is simple but good. They have Stella Artois on tap poured in
‘the perfect nine step process and served in a goblet’. And they’ve got wine on tap, which as
we all know is so ‘hip right now’ (see Swings in Margaret River, and I’m sure I saw an article in one of the major papers recently about
“cutting back packaging”).
Jane had the hamburger, which was slices of
rare beef on a pitch black hamburger bun.
Me? I had the pumpkin soup
with ricotta gnocchi (not enough salt), a glass of the white, a coffee and a
lemon custard filled donut... I
know; I’ll get fat, but I did go for
a swim today.
Jane rated her dish highly, then opined on
the fit out’s styling:
‘Plants are so trendy now, aren’t they?’
‘You know, I think they’ve always been
fashionable. Since time began
really. Perhaps with the exception
of the Buck Rogers TV show in the eighties.’
Or did even they have pot plants? Let's see? Nope...
So, if you don’t mind going somewhere
trendy, with sticks in buckets, try it out. It’s not five star, but it’s good enough, and the prices
aren’t as exorbitant as some.
And have a Stella for me.
Like to find out more? Visit:
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