Ten years ago, Natalie Guest developed a green smoothie habit. She was so taken with a recipe she found online – a blend of fruits and leafy, nutritious greens – she wound up drinking one most days. Soon after, she was spruiking them to family and friends.
“I’ve made it my daily habit,” Guest told Broadsheet in 2020. “They made me feel so good.”
In 2014 she opened a South Yarra cafe dedicated to the vibrant green drinks, along with other smoothies, acai bowls, and smashed avo on toast. She aptly named it Green Cup.
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SIGN UPArmadale and Hawthorn outposts followed, but she’s just opened a fourth cafe – her first on the north side – in Carlton. Designed by local architect Ewert Leaf, it features the same signature green, with dark-green tiling, stainless-steel mesh screening and a whole lot of natural light. Perched on a Faraday Street corner, there are 10 indoor and six outdoor seats if you want to linger, or you can grab and go.
Naturally, plenty of green smoothies are on the menu (which is mostly vegan aside from honey in some). Most blend spinach and kale with fruit and some combination of nuts, coconut water, almond milk, chia seeds and dates. The popular Green Cup 1 is a mix of spinach, kale, banana, strawberries, blueberries, spirulina (a blue-green algae), mesquite (powdered seed pods that add sweetness), chia, dates and coconut water.
Leaf-free smoothies include the Peanut Butter Cup (peanut butter, banana, chia, dates and almond milk) and the vegan Chocolate Shake, with cacao and cacao nibs, cinnamon, maca (a root native to Peru with an earthy flavour), almonds, banana and dates.
Acai bowls start with a base of blended frozen acai berry and banana, and can be topped with fresh fruit, granola, nuts, Nutella, house-made peanut butter, coconut yoghurt and more.
A number of toast – and toastie – options are also on offer. Get toast with smashed avo then add vegemite, chilli or tomato and dukkah; or go for peanut butter and banana. Toastie-wise, go plant-based with kasundi (Indian tomato relish), kale and vegan cheese.
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