St Ali North – Dani Valent

815 Nicholson Street, Carlton North, 9380 5455

My score: 3.5/5

If you were putting a cafe in a time capsule to show the future what Melbourne 2013 was like, you might as well stuff in St Ali North. Everything about it is indicative and plenty of its features could vie for best of breed. There’s the urban playground nature of the place: on a bike path, behind a cycle shop and with a tangle of two-wheelers in the parking lot. There are showcase piercings, hipster tattoos and conceptual hair arrangements – and that’s just the staff. There’s the little dude phenomenon: kids in cool t-shirts eating from a children’s menu that doesn’t read like a what-not-to-eat chart. There’s even a Jimi Hendrix colouring page on the reverse for the Voodoo Child that likes pencils. The interior is very now: stone and glass and shouty-loud, clean lines splotched with a little kitsch and art. Then there’s the food (thorough, DIY restaurant approach, cafe angle, allergy friendly), the drink (coffee as culture) and the service (professional, totally chilled with sprinting power when necessary).

St Ali North opened in December. Its older sibling St Ali (South) trucks on merrily in a South Melbourne laneway. Bolted to both menus are the crisp, lively corn fritters with haloumi, still the go-to CF in a town that’s clogged with them. There’s also a lovely, deeply toasted granola, with a great balance of grains, nuts, coconut and honey, served over a decent dollop of vanilla yoghurt. Healthy, too. I can make a health argument for the roasted nectarines on brioche with bacon icecream: things that make you feel so brain-poppingly happy must be good for you even if they tick a couple of food groups a couple too many times. The (very) big breakfast is served on a rectangular china platter with a smashing array of sides including porky sausage nuggets and doughty bean ragout. A gluten-free sandwich was less than sparkling: maybe kale just isn’t supposed to be sandwiched, maybe it’s that the chickpea braise was bland. The cake cabinet encases serious riches.

The place gets busy so the time capsule will need to include the strange 21st century phenomenon of the breakfast waiting list. But the experienced St Ali North crew tend to handle whatever’s thrown at them whether it’s a crush at the door, a fierce need for caffeine and, I’m sure, the notion of representing Melbourne cafes in a 2013 cache.

See their website.

More hot new cafes:

Fergus, 301 Wattletree Road, Malvern East, 9509 8351
It’s been pumping since it opened in November with creative muffin flavours (Jaffa!), air-con and a sweet courtyard too.

Acland Street Cantina, 2 Acland Street, St Kilda
Starting early and powering on till late, the old Mink Bar is now a diner with fast fresh Mexican food to eat in or take away. Expect a crowd.

Follow the Leader, 65 Glen Eira Road, Ripponlea, 9530 0415
Ripponlea’s watershed third quality cafe joins Spout and Hawk & Hunter. The newbie has a courtyard and sources coffee from this week’s star St Ali.

First published in The Age, February 17, 2013

2017-09-18T17:05:55+10:00

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