MELBOURNE has reached “peak hipster” level. The foodie capital of Australia is now letting customers, wait for it, toast their own bread.
For years, a small circle of locals have been regularly coming to a cafe in Fitzroy, drawn by an opportunity they can find at almost no other establishment — a space to DIY toast.
These toast-enthusiasts have turned to Brunswick Street’s Rustica Sourdough which is one of Melbourne’s few “toast safe spaces”.
The cafe gives you the option of buying a loaf of bread, which is made on site, and toasting it yourself using their DIY toaster on the communal “toast free safe” space.
Loaves at Rustica start at $6.50. If you order toast off the menu instead, it will cost you $8 — so it actually works out cheaper.
Some not-so-thrilled Melburnians have taken to social media, having a venting spree over the unique concept, while others came to its defence.
Some went on to say, you probably have to pay for the ‘experience’ too.
But owner of the cafe Brenton Lang says this is not all true — they serve toast, toasted by a waiter, and that is what most people order. There is also a communal table where toasting bread yourself is optional.
“This little scenario’s got blown out of proportion somehow,” Mr Lang told Melbourne’s 3AW 693 radio journalist Tom Elliot.
“The toppings are free if you buy the bread.”
The cafe posted on their Facebook page: “Long are the days of the toasted-ness of your bread being dictated by someone else. Not a fan of DIY? Hola at our wait team and they’ll serve you up our freshly baked bread cooked to perfection.”
“It means you can have it however you like it,” waitress Lucy Wiseman told The Age. “Lightly toasted or burnt to a crisp.”
But there are dangers to letting patrons toast their own, says Jarrod Hack, co-owner of Woodfrog Bakery in St Kilda.
He told The Age they have been allowing patrons to toast their own bread for many years.
“We were told we were going to get sued,” he says. “A man must have flicked up the handle on the toaster, which flicked up the toast, which flew into his soup bowl, and splashed some soup on to his arm. He was enraged. These are the dangers of letting customers toast their own toast.”