New Little Sunflower Cafe Lights up Elwood
Little Sunflower is a new light and airy cafe in Ormond Rd Elwood that excites with its healthier style menu, great coffee and chic fit out. The cafe is warm and intimate with a stunning fit out that could be described as Scandinavian style, able to seat 32 customers. Check out our Best Healthy Eating Cafes.
Ormond Rd Elwood is coming alive with a series of new ventures, and Little Sunflower is at the fore and on trend. Elwood has a boutique charm and sense of community, and Little Sunflower comes with a boutique style.
Little Sunflower's owners Grant Waters and Angie Robertson are as warm as the sunflower itself, with 10 years experience in Melbourne hospitality. The philosophy behind the menu is impressive; an Elwood cafe supporting artisan organic seasonal wild crafted handcrafted sustainable free range ethical nutrient dense produce. Says Angie, "Our focus is on providing the whole food, naturally."
For those interested in healthier eating the menu options are captivating. The black rice pudding is warm, served with your choice of milk, topped with bee pollen, strawberries, banana, caramelised buckinis, toasted coconut flakes. It is gluten free, dairy free and a delicious way to start the day!
The toasted granola has a superfood kick with goji berries and golden berries, nuts and seeds, topped with kefir - a fermented milk for a happy tummy!
Little Sunflower serves up raw granola which takes 3 days to make! Says Angie, "First we activate the buckwheat & sprout it. Its then mixed with other activated nuts and seeds & dehydrated. Sweetening the granola is carried out with medjool dates and fruit only.
Soaking increases the nutrient value along with breaking down the problematic compounds that help enhance their digestibility. This dish is gluten free and dairy free."
Customers are loving the Lemon, turmeric & quinoa pancakes, mascarpone,organic maple syrup.
The Breakfast salad packs a nutritional punch with greens of watercress & spinach, ancient grains of freekeh and puffed amaranth, chia seeds and nuts in the dukkah, free range chemical free bacon pieces and topped with a poached organic free range egg.
Or check out the Egg and bacon slider...
Chia, banana, coconut pudding, brazil nuts, cacao nibs is considered a smaller breakfast, but The World Loves Melbourne could fill up on this for a hearty nutritious breakfast.
Lemon and turmeric pancakes are made with quinoa flour so they're gluten free. The pancakes also feature Pepe Saya mascarpone and organic maple syrup. Yum!!
Turmeric is a powerful anti-inflammatory with anti-oxidant properties, while lemon supports the immune system and aids digestion. Not exactly guilt free but a bit of nutritional value for the pleasure.
The Sweet potato roesti dish is vegetarian, dairy free & gluten free. Roasted field mushroom, raw kale, sweet potato roesti is cooked in coconut oil. Tomato kasoundi, a rich spicy, aromatic tomato relish is a delightful accompaniment. A healthy filling breakfast.
Toast is organic sourdough from Dench Bakery. House made conserves are strawberry, rhubarb & vanilla jam; as well as Orange, lemon & ginger marmalade. Nut butter is made with almonds, Brazil nuts and cashews. Toast is also served with Pepe Saya cultured grass fed butter.
Here is the menu:
Breakfast is served all day! The World Loves Melbourne is grateful. For lunch you can imbibe Nutrient packed bowls of delicious vibrant vegetables - raw and cooked, legumes, grains, seeds, shoots, with the option of adding a protein. Or maybe a hot Pumpkin & chickpea coconut curry, forbidden black rice, kale, natural yoghurt, seeds, chia poppadums. Or indeed choose a baguette or nutritious soup of the day served with sourdough.
The passion for healthier eating is real, with a Dehydrator (like a low oven) being used to process their raw foods. There's also an Angel Press cold press juicer - one serious juicer. Cold press juice options include Green love- Kale, celery, pear, mint; Sunny life- Lemon, orange, beetroot, ginger; Brain power- Carrot, apple, pineapple, turmeric.
It's about attention to detail and the little touches. The house made Kimchi takes 10 days to produce. Little Sunflower have even installed a reverse osmosis plus alkalizer water filtration system for their drinking water - super impressive.
Why Little Sunflower the name? Says Angie, "Sunflowers are natures gift of radiant warmth, they are the happiest of flowers, they represent cheerfulness and their symbolic meanings include healing, vitality & longevity. They are unique in their ability to provide energy in the form of nourishment and vibrancy, an attribute, which mirrors the sun and its energy, provided by its heat and light."
Little Sunflower is proud to choose iconic local suppliers such as:
Allpress, Organic coffee
Somage Organic Tea
Gamez, Organic, ‘e’ chemical free, free range bacon & ham
Yarra Valley Produce, Fruit & Veg
Green Eggs, Free range organic eggs
Pepe Saya, Organic cultured grass fed butter and Mascarpone
Denches Bread, Organic sourdough bread
Milawa poultry, Free range chickens
Almond Milk Co., Raw almond milk
Renovating the space has been a challenge in replacing the previous dark space with a new vibrancy including a stunning vertical garden by Paps Vertical Gardens. The vertical garden features 102 plants! Good for the carbon footprint!
Much of the furniture is by Clu furniture in Richmond, including tables and laptop tables. The chic stools are from Max Hunt from South Australia.
Lighting has been enhanced with new lighting by David Mason in Richmond...
Once were dark brown walls, there is now superb tile work by Perini in Richmond that even incorporates sunflower tiles.
On the walls are prints of bulldogs, a passion of Gary and Angie and many in Elwood. A French bulldog overlooks proceedings (the print shows destination names on the dog like a Melways) and another print is of a Pug...
Stained glass windows are a heritage element that bring charm.
Coffee is from Allpress, using a chic looking La Marzocco machine.
There are no shortcuts here with the food and coffee; Grant and Angie want this cafe to be a haven where people can enjoy, chill and unwind. Hence the vibrancy of the cafe.
Come for a visit to vibrant joyful Little Sunflower at 15 Ormond St Elwood...