From The Grounds Up

On a bright and sunny Sydney morning, we sloth around fumbling to get dressed with bellys rumbling. It’s not an uncommon scene in my house and the topic of conversation is always where to go for breakfast. On this particular morrow Charlie plucks out the idea of going to the new café in Alexandria: The Grounds. "Splendid idea old boy", we saddle the horses and off we go…..

On first site The Grounds (or TG as I have cleverly renamed it) is an impressive vision. It has the feeling of walking into someone’s back yard, someone who actually has time to garden and sow a herb patch. Whilst giving an approving nod to each other a friendly waiter comes out to say hello and then take us to our seats. If we thought the exterior of TG was impressive then the inside is stunning. No expense has been spared in putting this industrial country cottage together, from the coffee cups complete with TG logo, the beautiful woodwork covering the ceiling, door handles made of coffee grips, cool lamps and hanging lights everywhere even sexily tiled toilets….. yep the toilets are totally bling. This may be the best looking café I have ever been in. Big call. It is much larger than I had initially realised, seating what must be over 150 people inside and out. We are seated opposite 2 huge beautiful roasters that TG uses to produce its own coffee and that is exactly where we start, “2 long blacks please”. If you like your coffee then you wont be disappointed, they use one of the new generation Synesso machines which along with their own brand blend produces a delicious cup of smooth rich flavours with a bizarre smokey aftertaste that we both strangely enjoyed.

Reading over the menu was heartbreaking, everything sounded so different, so good. I wanted to try it all; boiled eggs rolled in quinoa and garden herbs (fresh from TG's allottment) or ocean trout salad with asparagus and pearl barley. Every dish coming out of the kitchen looked divine and after much deliberation we both decided on the scrambled eggs with smoked cheddar and mushrooms - a nice, hearty option. It was blooming lovely, every last scrap on both our plates was hoovered up.

Sadly, all too soon it was time to leave this cafe haven. By the time we left it wasn't even 9am and the place was packed with a gaggle of people already queing outside... if you plan on coming, get in early because I'm pretty sure this place is just gonna get busier! Well done The Grounds, we likey a lot.