Advieh

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71b Gamon Street, Seddon, 0432 241 276

My score: 3.5/5

It’s not the usual cafe story. Gene Kapaufs, the 24-year-old co-owner of Seddon sweetie Advieh, was wrestling for Australia at the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi in 2010. His mum, Sandra Farrugia, rang to say she’d found a place for the cafe she dreamt of opening, a pet supply store near the family’s home. Farrugia had worked in lunch spots while Kapaufs and his sister were growing up but she’d always wanted a place of her own. Kapaufs leapt in to help. 

He admits the cafe’s first year was a little ropey because no one in the family had experience in the kind of quality cafe they wanted to run. He turned the obsessive energy he’d thrown into sport (cage fighting and jiu jitsu as well as wrestling) into the new business. He hung around in cafes he admired, watching, absorbing. He pored over trade rags. He toiled. Slowly, Advieh improved: the service, the food, the coffee, even the layout after two extreme makeover blitzes. Now, after more than two years of trading, the family store is in pretty good shape.

I felt welcome as soon as I walked in. The smiles, solicitous questions, quick coffee order (and great latte), colourful food displays and warm timber-and-tiles décor all did their bit. The food dances around the Middle East with labne, Turkish sausage and tabouli liberally strewn through the menu. Everything I tried was fresh and tasty. The ‘Dukka’ is a breakfast dish of sourdough, piled with pesto, avocado, rocket, shavings of pecorino cheese, a perfect poached egg and a generous scattering of dukka, a toasty north African sprinkle of hazelnuts, sesame seeds and spices, which added lovely crunch to an eggy brunch.

The breakfast menu needs more egg and bread-free offerings but lunch is a riot of vegan and gluten-free dining, with grills, falafel and antipasto leading the charge. I loved the smoky, lemony baba ghanoush and the lentil salad with currants, slivered almonds and the odd caper (and an unfortunate bit of grit). Sweets include house-made Turkish delight, interesting muffins (chai spiced, for starters) and syrup-soaked, pudding-like orange cake with fresh cardamom. Outdoor dining (footpath and dog-friendly courtyard) and the prospect of dinners in the future add to Advieh’s appeal. Just don’t wrestle the owner if you like it less than I did.

More good eggs:

Follow the Leader, 65 Glen Eira Road, Ripponlea, 9530 0415
The breakfast burger is a winner, with bacon, avocado, spinach and fried egg on a sweet bun kicking any lazy Sunday off to a flying start.

Two Birds One Stone, 12 Claremont Street, South Yarra, 9827 1228
The eggs benedict with house-smoked ham hock and béarnaise sauce is a classy breakfast, served any time of day. 

Albert Street Food and Wine, 382 Sydney Road, Brunswick, 8354 6600
Swanky 63-degree eggs turn up in delicious places, such as with mushroom and lentil risotto, or get the yolk with one of Melbourne’s best steak tartares.

First published in The Age, August 11, 2013