Brothers Tim and Matthew Smith are the sons of Mary. After owning The Flinders Hotel in Flinders, The Brown Cow in Hampton and the London in Port Melbourne, they opened this spot a few metres away from their mum’s house and named it after her for fun.
Being originally from the area, the duo knew it was lacking a good cafe-restaurant that stood out from the crowd. The converted warehouse does just that. There are bi-folding windows that open onto the street for summer, and an open fireplace to park next to with a hot chocolate in winter.
The site opens 7am and serves food all the way through to dinner, meaning you can rock up at any time for a meal.
For breakfast choose from baked eggs with chorizo, smoked mozzarella and red pepper sugo; and brioche French toast with blueberry compote, bacon, maple syrup and mascarpone. Lunch brings in salads and burgers.
By 5pm, people begin arriving from nearby Gardenvale station for small bites from the rotating tapas menu and after-work drinks from the extensive wine list. Larger choices include crispy-skin salmon fillet and a slow-braised beef daube with celeriac purée, peas and mushroom jus.
