A new Northcote café Rogue Rabbit is serving bronuts, savoury stuffed French toast and steak and eggs from its spot just off High Street.
The café opened on Monday, 28th September, and comes from hospitality veterans John Scardamaglia, Matt Smith and Joe Mansour, the trio behind Templestowe café Down the Rabbit Hole.
The chefs take familiar breakfast staples and put their own spin on them. “We wanted to create a breakfast café that feels a little different—a bit more quirky, a bit more rogue,” says Scardamaglia. “Northcote has such a diverse and creative community, and we think it’s the perfect place for it.”
Meet the bronut
The star of the menu is the bronut, a hybrid of a doughnut and brioche that Smith has spent over a decade perfecting at Down the Rabbit Hole. What’s more, each bronut takes around four days to make, with the team working the dough through to the finished pastry.
At Rogue Rabbit, Smith will introduce seasonal flavours created specifically for the Northcote café, giving regulars a reason to keep coming back to see what’s next. Smith, who has spent 30 years working in the hospitality industry, leads the kitchen.
The kitchen takes a familiar café repertoire and nudges it in more interesting directions. The savoury stuffed French toast comes loaded with mortadella, stracciatella and pistachio, while steak and eggs keeps things firmly in breakfast-classic territory.
There are vegetarian and vegan options across the menu, too, while Omelette Tuesdays give locals a new weekly breakfast ritual to add to the calendar.
Coffee comes courtesy of the café’s house blend, with rotating batch brews and a considered lineup of cold drinks rounding things out.
Look for the mural outside
Inside, the roughly 100m² café seats around 50 people across its indoor and outdoor areas. The design mixes exposed brick, stone, fluted glass and vintage-inspired furniture, landing somewhere between polished industrial and retro café.
Then, outside, Melbourne artist Danielle Weber is giving the building an even bolder identity with a mural stretching around 30 metres across the exterior.
Also, Weber is using spray paint and brushwork to create the work, which will be visible from High Street and the surrounding laneway. The team discovered her through her social media and existing work around Melbourne, and felt her bold style was a natural fit for Rogue Rabbit.
Finally, Rogue Rabbit is at 4 Separation Street, Northcote, and is open Monday to Friday from 7.30am to 3pm, and Saturday and Sunday from 8am to 3pm.
