petit déjeuner á Lumière

I am a spoilt little bitch. I will admit it and glady scream it at the top of my lungs for one and all to hear. I AM A SPOILT LITTLE BITCH!!! You see I live in Surry Hills, Sydney, an inner city suburb scattered with coffee shops, cafés, restaurants, bars and pubs. And as a self-proclaimed wining and dining whore, Surry Hills is perfect.

This ugly and miserable Sunday morning, I moseyed down to Lumière on Bourke St, the Taylor Square end. A contemporary café where the flavour c’est cool. Schibello coffee on my table within three minutes of my sitting down and placing my order, and within the next eight to ten minutes, a fluffy and filling omelette of chorizo, field mushrooms and fresh dill. Add two pieces of toasted sourdough and you have some seriously delicious breakfast to get through.

Look I am normally a machine and while I do like to savour the flavours of the foods I am ingesting, I find it difficult to eat slowly. This morning however, it surprisingly took me a while to eat my breakfast. I am not sure if I could attribute this to my still being in holiday-mode or perhaps the impressive October issue of UK Vogue that I was rather engrossed in, but it did take me a good 15 minutes or so to eat my omelette.

The field mushrooms really do add to the flavour in this meal and after having spent the last six weeks in sunny Spain, the land famed for their jamon varieties, the chorizo in my omelette was pretty damn good and the taste spot-on.

Had I not eaten the toast I probably would not be as bloated now but nevertheless it was indeed delicious.

Most times I usually eat the fruit salad for breakfast. Most places that serve fruit salad offer paltry sizes but Lumiére’s is rather ample and comes with yoghurt and passionfruit.

What I love about Lumière is that the place is so cool they can play different genres of music where a whole lot of doof-doof is incorporated and it seems to not bother you at eight in the morning. Rather, the beats  transport you to the chic delights of the French Riviera and the azure waters of the Mediterranean (well that was this morning anyway). Before you know it, one sip of your coffee and you are in a world of your own. Unless you have an annoying kid near you running around like a headless chook in a dirty GAP jumper and gumboots in some horrible shade of blue that is like fire to your eyes. Don’t some mothers know how to control their children in public? Clearly not.

A frequent visitor at Lumière, I can definitely say the staff are spot on with their service. Prompt and pleasant.  Noticing I am eating my toast, a waiter asks if I would like jam and another coffee. My plate is immediately cleared after I finish my food. They are reasonably friendly and polite though not warm. No, they are too cool to be too friendly.

Despite this, which is usually a pet-hate of mine, Lumière will always remain a first-pick for breakfast. But not if I want to have bircher museli. They don’t serve bircher.

Lumiére: Shop 13, 417 Bourke Street, Surry Hills.

Fruit Salad

my bircher muesli this morning looked like green broth…

I’ve always favoured muesli for breakfast as opposed to sugary cereals and pieces of toast, but since moving to Sydney a year ago, I’ve had this new-found love affair with bircher muesli. Especially since relocating to Surry Hills. It’s not only delicious, but ultra healthy, high in fibre and low-GI, so it fills me right through to lunchtime. The perfect kick-start to my day.

Once upon a time there was this place called the Fruit Pharmacy on the Surry Hills end of Bourke Street (next to Woolworths) that sold this amazing non-dairy bircher muesli. Unfortunately they shut down, and I have yet to find out if they reopened anywhere else.

Away from the traffic of busy Crown and Bourke Streets, The Book Kitchen on Devonshire Street is a must-go. They do an impressive bircher that comes in two different sizes ($8 and $11 respectively), and is beautifully presented to boot:

The Book Kitchen's Bircher Muesli

The service is usually shite though, well every time I’ve been it’s been far from efficient, but they are always pleasant and friendly nevertheless. Just don’t expect a menu in your hands for at least a good five minutes, if you’re lucky. Their soy chai lattes however, are one of the very best.

At the end of my street is Monkey’s Coffee, where I usually get my early-morning coffee. Thanks to the blistering cold winter mornings lately, venturing down 100m to the corner is quite an arduous task. However when I do mange to get down there, I am a fan of their version of Bircher. Much creamier than The Book Kitchen’s recipe, my take-away container comes complete with yoghurt and poached rhubarb. Yum. I also like to add a little honey when I get home to sweeten it up a little.

I discovered Toby’s Estate in Woolloomooloo the other day while running an errand for work. On the corner of Palmer and Cathedral Streets, this buzzing café which as the name says, serves Toby’s Estate coffee, offers a relaxing vibe and great service. I’m quite selective with my coffee, but Toby’s Estate is hands down fantastic. Although the bircher I had there this morning to accompany my skim latte was far from it. Drowned in apple juice, my bowl resembled green broth, and I will admit I was slightly horrified at first. Such a shame because my coffee was so good, the sun was shining after a week of miserable rain, AND I started work late, at noon.

Will try Café Mint on Crown St next week, as well as attempting to perhaps make my own bircher recipe.