26 September 2007

The Commercial Bakery

Rear 360
Little Collins Street,
Melbourne
Ph: 03 9670 7214

MY favourite city cafe has a new, flashy sibling. Flinders Lane superstar Journal has a rival in a roomier upstart the Commercial Bakery. The latest from Melbourne cafe guru Con Christopoulos is hidden off Little Collins St, near Elizabeth St.

The bottom floor of a bluestone gem, a former truck rental business, houses this interesting bakery. High ceilings, polished concrete floors and retro glass shutter windows retain the former warehouse/factory gone retro posh feel. It's essentially an extremely cool and original fit-out with coloured tiled walls and fabulous light fittings brightening things up.

Daily specials included a lamb and barley soup and pasta. A selection of sandwiches in massive slices of freshly baked sourdough bread with ham and cheese ($7), goats curd, beetroot and onion jam ($8.50), traditional salad and cheddar ($8.50) and corned beef, sauerkraut and mustard ($10).

We loved the chicken pie. ($11). It was fancy, with white wine sauce and thyme. Delicious soft, melt in your mouth pastry encased tasty chunks of chicken. beautiful. The field mushroom and herb tart was deliciously light, like a mousse. ($9). All pies come with a crispy salad of mixed lettuce leaves, contrasting nicely with the pastries.



Traditional spanakopita ($8.50) and lamb, olive and tomato ($11) pies complete the pie menu.
Pastries for the sweet tooth include old fashioned lemon tea cake ($7), baked cheesecake ($5) and shortbread ($1) and choc panaforte ($1.50). Quality coffee and San Pellegrini chinotto topped off our lovely lunch.

The good news is The Commercial Bakery is open for brekkie from 7am, serving up a small menu of varied toasts, egg and bacon ciabatta ($6.50) and semolina or oat porridge ($7). Bakery goods can be taken away.

8/10

3 comments:

Linda said...

I've been here before and I must say, it's fantastic. Staff are friendly and coffee is top-notch. A must!

Anonymous said...

i agree. it rocks. love the interior and the staff are really into it.

claire said...

Mon Dieu, Kate and Zoe, I just discovered your blog. Like you, I spend a goodly amount of time in Swan St Richmond (I tried a pain au chocolat at Almost French last weekend - it didn't rock my world, sadly) and I have also blogged about, or am a patron of, many of the places you mention. I've pored over all your entries, they are a pleasure to read and I'm so glad Google Reader recommended your blog to me! Keep up the great work :)
Claire