Cumulus Inc
| Where | 45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne, 3000—View map |
Contact | 03 96501445 info@cumulusinc.com.au |
Website | www.cumulusinc.com.au |
Open | Breakfast Monday to Friday 7.00 am to 11.00 am |
Payment | EFTPOS, Visa, Mastercard, Diners, AMEX, Cash |
Diet | Soy |
Seating | Inside |
Kids | Welcome |
Pets | Unwelcome |
Catching the cumulus cloud
Ellie Parker 22 November 2008
On Monday I sat under a tall vase of plum magnolia, sipped Jasmin pearl tea and delighted in a tiny madeleine filled with lemon curd.
On Wednesday I sank my teeth into a crusty white bread sandwich of bacon, eggs, tomato, avocado and lemon mayo whilst perching on a stool overlooking a long white marble bench.
On Thursday I pulled up a chair in the sun and devoured farmhouse slab bacon,blood sausage on toast, fried eggs and smoked tomato.
On Friday I interviewed Andrew McConnell, the man who had given me such a full stomach.
Andrew McConnell's latest venture, Cumulus Inc, is a wonderful thing. The concept, as the website suggests, is to provide an ‘eating house', whether it be for a coffee, snack, drink or a meal. Each of my visits to Cumulus Inc offered me something different, from the refreshing refinement of Jasmin pearl tea to the ultimate hangover cure of The Full English. The menu and space provides flexibility-I found tables of lawyers alongside duos of artists and gallery owners. Moods, agendas and varying appetites are accommodated throughout the day, making this eating house a rare treasure in the CBD.Cumulus' aesthetic creates a warm, amenable environment.
As for breakfast, it is ‘done simply; organic muesli, or perhaps the full English,with farmhouse slab bacon and smoked tomato' according to the website. This simplicity is met with a relaxed quality. Nothing is overwrought. It's that classic cuisine of letting good quality ingredients speak for themselves. The Bircher muesli is light, complete with grated Granny Smith apples and almonds. The Turkish eggs are baked in a shallow terracotta dish along with spiced tomato, dukkah and labne. It's a perfect dish. Really perfect.
McConnell's finesse with flavours is showcased by the dish featuring Tom Cooper salmon, poached eggs, sorrel, apple and dill. It's a delicate little beauty. Having never had egg paired with apple before, I was excited by the crispy sweetness marrying so well with the creaminess of the poached egg. The dill and sorrel combination is inspired, and the paper-thin salmon sheets are to die for.
How I managed to finish The Full English, I don't know (well, I do,it's called a thumper of a hangover). This is a mighty meaty plate of goodness. The blood sausage and the smoked tomato did my head in (they were meant to be together till death to them part). I'm now also a firm convert to slab bacon, partly because I like saying ‘slab bacon', and partly because it's one of the finer piggies in town.
McConnell is a wonderfully clever man. More than a chef, he is a visionary. The food on the menu is all the food that McConnell likes to eat in his ‘down time', so it's food from the heart. The space is light-filled, simply decorated and warm, thanks to his wife and business partner, Pascale Gomes-McNabbe. Cumulus is a breath of fresh air. Catch the Cumulus Cloud and you'll know what I mean.
Check out Breakfast Out's Sunday Mornings section for the interview with Andrew McConnell.