Barry

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85 High Street, Northcote, 9481 762

My score: 3.5/5

Being trendy can be an affliction – just ask anyone wearing heel-less heels. Viewed more optimistically, trends can be a joyful manifestation of the here and now expressed, for example, in lovable emojis, salted caramel or bushranger beards. The menu at Barry, a big, bright, new cafe, bursts with on-trend ingredients and preparations. There’s coconut water, freekeh and tri-coloured quinoa, cold-drip coffee, gluten-free granola and Korean fried chicken sandwich. Still not convinced? Activated almonds (in raw beetroot salad with Persian feta), raw zucchini lasagne, and five dishes with hip, leafy green kale are on the list too! Stand by for trendometer boilover.

Luckily, dead-eyed shrugs are not as hipster as beaming smiles, so Barry is welcoming and eager too. The cafe is run by experienced family operators with links to Pillar of Salt and Touchwood in Richmond – there’s an assured feeling that comes from knowing a thing or two about feeding Melbourne. I tried two kale dishes. The gin-cured trout with roasted cauliflower, pomegranate and a scattering of torn kale is a classy brunch with a good balance of crunchy, succulent and wholesome. I was less enamoured of the pulpy juice with kale, apple, cucumber and herbs (too much roughage, not enough smoothage [SIC subs, please leave]) but I would come back just to try the superfood salad with wild rice, black beans, salted ricotta, jalapeno vinaigrette and – oh yeah – kale.

Sago (grains made from starchy pulp extracted from palm trees) is plumped with coconut cream to create a sturdy pudding bathed in lime syrup and topped with fruit and black sesame. If there’s ever a day you need to zoom through, this could be your fuel. I felt compelled to order the peanut butter and tomatoes on toast because the menu implored ‘trust us’ – the combo was okay but I don’t reckon it’s more than the sum of its parts. Breakfast means eggs to lots of punters: there are options both straightforward (scrambled, toast, bacon) and fancy (exotic mushroom omelette with truffled hazelnuts), all nicely done.

Likeable touches include a handy bag shelf along the window and relaxed alcoholic offerings such as Melbourne Bitter longnecks and mini bottles of prosecco, because sometimes you want to toast the little things – like a blooming love affair with kale.

More on trend:

Jimmy Grants, 113 St David Street, Fitzroy, 9416 0060
George Calombaris’s souvlaki joint kills hungry with its grilled meat, cutlery-free tendencies and a misty-eyed fondness for the recent past.

Supernormal Canteen, 53 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy
Don’t call it a pop up, just consider it a fleeting opportunity to experience what Andrew McConnell will do when he opens new restaurant Supernormal in Flinders Lane next year.

Grain Store, 517 Flinders Lane, Melbourne, 9972 6993
This airy, attractive cafe isn’t opposed to kale either, with healthy, vibrant food that’s worth savouring slowly. I enjoyed the cauliflower with pumpkin hummus, goji berries and quinoa.

First published in The Age, November 17, 2013.