On a side street off Preston’s busy main strip there’s a sunshine-filled cafe so cheery in its yellow, white and aqua colour palette it’s almost therapeutic. It’s a pretty, lively room with an open kitchen and a turntable playing South American vinyl.
The dedicated arepa diner is the second South American cafe from Colombian-born Santiago Villamizar and Carolina Talero, the husband and wife behind Fitzroy’s Sonido. Arepas are a Colombian staple dating back to pre-Spanish colonisation.
The dedicated arepa diner is the second South American cafe from Colombian-born Santiago Villamizar and Carolina Talero, the husband and wife behind Fitzroy’s Sonido. Arepas are a Colombian staple dating back to pre-Spanish colonisation.
The “Arepa Lab” and the dining room are separated by a glass partition made from old Art Deco-style window frames. Next to the open kitchen there are stacked sacks of dried Australian white-corn kernels. The pair cooks the corn, grinds it, mixes it with water, salt and vegetable oil and flattens it. The dough is pressed into flat discs with an arepa maker (from Colombia) before they’re crisped on the grill.
There are 10 topped arepas including one with vegemite, guacamole and tomato, and one with scrambled eggs. Or you can create your own with black beans, chorizo, morcilla (black pudding) or pulled beef.
You can also buy packaged plain or cheese arepas to cook at home – just throw them on a hot pan until golden.
Jugs of Colombian hot chocolate are spiced with cinnamon, cloves and honey. There’s also raw sugarcane juice and fresh juices made from tropical fruits such as guanabana (“soursop”) and passionfruit, as well as coffee by Brunswick’s Wood and Co coffee.
Story: Broadsheet
Photography: Jake Roden
TRADING HOURS
Mon – Sat 8am–3.30pm
Closed Sundays
Chris Legge spent four years at university, only to realise he prefers coffee to landscape architecture.
“I just made coffee part-time while I was studying. And I decided I enjoyed it more,” he says.
We all know Preston today for the amazing range of different cuisines on offer, and for the vibrant, community feel. But how well do you really know the area? Here are eleven little tidbits we bet you knew nothing about…
Melbourne equals coffee. A family business in Preston Central is part of our café culture’s proud history: Lucchini Café has its origins back in the late 1940s, boasting a direct link to the time when Melbourne’s love of coffee was established. This was the era when Italian migrants introduced Melbourne to real coffee, pizza and good cakes, changing the city forever.
Have you ever wondered why so many bakeries are run by Vietnamese? Bread is not a traditional Asian food, after all. The reason is that the French colonised Vietnam from 1887 until 1954, and while they were there, they introduced the locals to a love of pastries. By the time the French left Vietnam the locals made had made a speciality out of French style baking.
Yes, we know sugar’s no good for us but sometimes you can’t resist a little something. For those of us with a sweet tooth, Preston Central’s got plenty of little somethings to choose from.
Melburnians love their op shops, seriously. You used to be able to take an op shop tour, like those outlet shopping bus tours that come in from places like Albury-Wodonga. For a couple of years there was a Melbourne Fringe show doing the same thing – you got on a bus with a performer and enjoyed a running commentary with your tour.
