New Cafe Opening in Westgarth
Announcement posted by Little Flock 13 Dec 2017
Now Open in Westgarth - Little Flock (Coffee & Brunch)
Named after their backyard chooks at home in Thornbury, Michael & Miroslawa's hunt for producers started with the humble egg. Their menu has all the things they love to eat and share with friends and family.
Miroslawa said "We wanted to use Gippsland Pastured. Eggs (formerly Greg's Eggs). They're the eggs we buy when our girls aren't laying. We love our chooks, and wanted to use eggs that came from really high welfare girls like ours."
"Greg & Felicity have really low stocking densities. It actually takes about a year for the chooks to get back to the same piece of paddock as they're moved about in mobile tractors. 16-21 girls per hectare. Not the 10,000 the mass produced 'free range' eggs have"
"From that point, we knew we wanted to use free range, traditionally smoked bacon from Uncles Smallgoods in Dandenong, an institution for Melbourne's Polish community" Michael notes. " while I love smoking, something I learned from Miroslawa's family, I couldn't do the volumes we need. Uncles smoke the traditional way, over a real fire, not dust or pellets. You really can taste the difference."
"I do get to contribute to the menu with our own smoked salmon though. I also cure and smoke our ocean trout, and bake our own rugbrød (a danish rye sourdough) to go with the trout. That dish takes us about 3 days to prepare. While I can contribute the ingredients, it's Miroslawa balance of flavours that makes the dish"
This attention to detail extends to their coffee, roasted by Small Batch in North Melbourne, and brewed on a Specht Design customised La Marzocco. Miroslawa & Michael have a love of filtered coffee, and so offer batch brew & pour over as well. "I've really been enjoying the El Pilar Guatemalan over ice on the hotter days" says Michael.
The coffee is served in handmade cups by Preston ceramicist Yesha MacDonald. "We had our dining table covered in different shaped, sized & coloured sample cups from the usual suspects, and we didn't love any of them. We went to a sale a few blocks from home being held by Yesha & her friend Adele, and fell in love. This was Yesha's first cafe order, and she did an amazing job working with us to make all the cups to our spec."
Little Flock proudly displays a list of producers in their window which also includes:
- Saskia Beer free range chicken.
- Cape Grim Grass Fed Beef - We use beef from 5yr+ old cattle that have really developed great marbling and flavour.
- Brasserie Bread - using their Single Origin Emmer Sourdough from grains grown in country NSW
Little Flock is open from 7-3 Tuesday - Friday, and 8-3:30 on Weekends.
They will be closed public holidays, but otherwise open over the Christmas/New Year period.
They currently seat 46, and offer a covered courtyard out back.
Images available on their Instagram page. High resolution images available on request.
For more information, please contact
Michael Coates
0407 323 145
81 High St Northcote