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Drink it all in at De Clieu, Fitzroy

Karen Poh

Wed Oct 13 2010

De Clieu, Gertrude St, Fitzroy

AFTER Brother Baba Budan and Seven Seeds, comes Mark Dundon and Bridget Amor’s latest venture De Clieu.

The cosy corner cafe on the corner of Gertrude and George streets was already bustling when Meld Magazine visited on its opening day.

Everything was running as it should be, and if there were any hiccups, we didn’t notice.

Photo: Shaun Lee

Photo: Shaun Lee

After all, the staff are old hands in the trade – regulars at Seven Seeds would recognise the same smiling faces behind the counter at the new joint.

Like its predecessors, expect the same silky cups of coffee at De Clieu, a modest but creative menu offering, yummy sweets, and excellent service.

Sandwiched between our ground lamb pizza was a yummy spinach, pine nut and currant salad tossed in a pomegranate molasses dressing; and the strawberry aniseed jam slathered on our buttered up organic seeded toast was finger-licking satisfaction.

Creative menu offerings at De Clieu. Sandwiched between the ground lamb pizza was a spinach, pine nut and currant salad with a pomegranate molasses dressing. Photo: Shaun Lee.

Creative menu offerings. The ground lamb pizza at De Clieu’s. Photo: Shaun Lee.

Granted, our eyes were hungrier than our stomachs, and other items we’d ordered if we could: the spring onion roti with sweet roasted pork neck, barbecue sauce and fried egg; fermented lentil and rice pancake with a spicy coconut and potato and pea filling; and the pickled calamari with a blood orange, fennel, green chilli and whitlof salad.

And if you’d like to take something home at the end of it all, there’s a little nook dedicated to retail, where you can handpick your favourite bean and press pot.

The cafe certainly lives up to its namesake, the famed Captain Mathieu de Clieu, who introduced coffee to the French colony of Martinique in the early 1700s. Legend has it the French naval officer went so far as to share his water ration with the precious lone seedling in his possession on his voyage.

Go De Clieu.

De Clieu is open daily from 7am-5pm at 187 Gertrude St, Fitzroy. Details: 94164661.

De Clieu on Urbanspoon

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