Mother's Day Brunch without Mother

"Sorry we're full, unless you like to join our 40 dollar-per-head brunch in which case we may be just able to squeeze two people in."

"Booked out, please come again."

Queues. Long long queues. Not even the chance of a take-away coffee. Definitely not the right day to try a new brunch venue, even if the sun was shining beautifully and banishing the air of its autumn coldness.

SY and I looked at each other. Fortunately I had not guaranteed her anything otherwise I would have looked a desperate fool. Especially as we were staring at the two queues snaking out of that signless cafe which served oh-so-wonderful coffee, with its Drip Clover machine presenting opportunities to properly appreciate the essence of single origin coffee beans.

"Think Replete will have any seats for us?

"It IS a little bit out of the way compared to the others..."

I crossed my fingers, remembering the last time I was at Replete Providore (Barkers Road, Hawthorn). I had ended up waiting in a winter 'wind tunnel' (tree-lined side street) for almost half an hour before the counter at the window became available. That shuddering memory was almost instantly wiped out by that of two pretty good Di Bella cafe lattes and the fluffy ricotta hotcakes with just-right homemade lemon curd & sweet fresh strawberries.

"Oh My Gosh. There are seats!" Yes, high fives all round (go ahead, call us dorks)!

We were shown to a table by the window the moment we arrived. Service is certainly better and more friendly compared to the last time I was here. Must be the sunshine.

The special 3-cheese (mozzarella, grana padano and machego) omelette was tempting, and so was the Replete Trifle - a well-laid trifle, with the bright reds & pinks of fruit compote contrasting against white creamy yoghurt with golden muesli sandwiched in between, is a beautiful thing to behold. But no, I was in the mood for bacon (all together now to the tune of THAT McDonalds commercial: "Bacon Bacon Bacon, we know we love our Bacon...") & what better to have bacon with than corn fritters, tomato & avocado salsa, chutney and sour cream?

With the familiarity of a semi-regular customer, SY went for the Replete Vegetarian Breakfast. She must come back often just for the crispy thick finger-shaped hash brown and the homemade baked beans. Or maybe those large juicy-looking field mushrooms and copious amount of spinach. We both asked for bottles of fresh blood orange juice - I love it when they say, "It will take a little while as we are currently making a fresh batch." I asked for a cafe latte, SY stuck with water to balance the natural sour-sweet taste of the blood orange juice.

By the time our blood orange juice came, the cafe was packed. Through the tall oak shelf partition on which sat packs of organic muesli, decadent Replete chocolate fudge brownies and Tea Drop teabags, we spied boys giving flowers to their mothers and grandmothers (though seriously darlings, roses and chrysanthemums do not make a good bouquet), and families treating their ladyfolk to dessert. Through the window, bees were annoying a young group sitting outside the cafe, and every so often dogs and babies in prams would have to wait for their parents to get their doses of takeaway caffeine. The barista never had a chance to put the milk back into the fridge given the frenzy of coffee orders.

Ah, bacon. In Replete's case, the Istra bacon from the Daylesford Macedon region and Replete corn fritter breakfast unfortunately made for quite an awful picture but was still a pleasure to consume. The bacon is not done to a crisp and not even brown but is cooked just right so cutting it up is not an issue. Which is a good thing when you are trying to do the Layered Fork - in this case a piece of bacon and a piece of corn fritter with salsa and chutney and sour cream at one stab of the fork so that you get all the flavours of the dish in your mouth at the same time and you can savour each chew.

Do not attempt to talk during such a chew. Enjoy the moment. Avoid embarrassing spitting and muffled conversation.

The coaster-sized corn fritters here are also lovely, though I must confess I have a slight preference for those at Mart 130 due to the mild crispness lent to the corn fritters at the latter. The salsa, sour cream and chutney (the effect of the curry powder and cumin was pronounced) complemented the corn fritters and bacon here most effectively.

SY was too busy enjoying her vegetarian breakfast to tell me much about it. At the end of it all, we both forgot that we had wanted the ricotta hotcakes for dessert.

"So why don't we come back to Replete more often?"

"Uh, because we still have too many places to try, like all those places that we had to forgo today? Because those ricotta hotcakes are wicked? Because those brownies, lemon slices, chocolate smartie cookies and other desserts on the counter are evil too?"

Only one thing to do after such a meal...

"I need to get a few things before I meet my mother for dinner - let's go to IKEA for a walk," SY suggested.

& so passed a Mother's Day brunch without mother...(I later found out that my mother went to my auntie's house for Mother's Day dinner with both my grandmothers in tow and they had a pretty good time for the day too)

LS: Replete Providore - 4 out of 5 stars. I like my coffees stronger than how Di Bella roasts them though I acknowledge that Di Bella is more suitable than most for milk-based coffees. Great breakfasts, tempting desserts, friendly and relatively efficient service on sunny days, small but cosy atmosphere, good selection of menu staples and daily specials.

http://www.repleteprovidore.com/cafe/