Everything at new cafe Flour Drum, from the produce-driven menu to the name, pays tribute to the farm. It’s run by partners Christopher Heaps and Johnny Ageletos, and their friend Victor Li. “We’re trying to get producers from the country onto the plate,” says Heaps.
Free-range eggs from Archerfield Farm, (former INXS manager Chris Murphy’s ethical operation located at Richmond), are served with sourdough toast from Brickfields on a breakfast menu printed on the chalkboard walls.
The lunch menu features hearty soups, salads and burgers, such as the chickpea burger with rocket, carrot, housemade beetroot relish, pickled zucchinis and housemade labneh, and the Angus beef burger with tomato, iceberg lettuce, melted vintage smoked cheddar, housemade dill pickles and chipotle mayo.
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SUBSCRIBE NOWThe homemade preserves and condiments are also for sale, a seasonal offering which may include beetroot relish; red capsicum and eggplant relish; chilli jam; pink grapefruit marmalade; and kiwi fruit jam. Also made on-site are cakes and sweets such as the rocky road.
Coffee is supplied by Blind Coffee Roasters, the Mascot-based roaster run by Richie Maxfield (ex-Little Marionette, Two Chaps). Heaps says he was drawn to Maxfield’s artisan approach. “We spent a good six months trying different coffee roasters, and we fell in love with Rich because he speaks to the old world. I call him an old-master roaster. He’s about the smell, the taste, the feel of it,” he says. “He’s got a great philosophy and a seriously good product.”
A 12-metre mural by local artist Scott Marsh depicting a quintessentially Australian pastoral scene covers a wall of the spacious back room, which is large enough to comfortably accommodate prams and wheelchairs. Retro pieces sourced from op shops and Ageletos’ family home, located just a few streets away, dot the otherwise minimalist compressed cement fit out.
“We flew down to Melbourne and drove back through country Victoria looking at all the old antique shops,” says Heaps. Among the haul they ferried back were handfuls of vintage teaspoons and a collection of Depression-era amber glassware, one of Heaps’ passions.
Flour Drum
533 King St, Newtown
(02) 9565 2822
Mon to Sun 7am-4pm
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