Mmmm.. A lunch special this week. Smoked Salmon Nicoise Salad

And one of popular brekky dishes... Potato & Herb Rosti w Smoked Salmon, Avocado & Poached egg. Also available for lunch. 

Dessert - As mentioned all cakes are made in house. Here's another goodie, Purple Heirloom Carrot Cake. 

Selection of Dead Man cakes.  Nice work today, Bec, Cameron & Ekta.  From now on all cakes will be made in house. Yippee!!!!

Todays lunch special risotto; Warialda Beef Chorizo with Fire Roasted Red Capsicum, kale, saffron & parmesan tuile and from our breakfast menu the Panmolle, Spicy Pork Fennel Sausages, fresh tomato salad & poached egg

We're stoked to have our new Head Chef, Rebecca Kaye on board now.  As much as we love our coffee it's great to have someone in the kitchen equally as passionate about food - seasonal & regional produce  We've been looking for someone like Bec for awhile (who worked with Kylie when they were at St Ali) and together with our other new chef Cameron and long serving chef Ekta we aim to keep delivering good & seasonal cafe food.  As well as baking our own cakes on a daily basis.  Here are two of todays specials; Warialda Beef chorizo, baby dutch carrots, celery & beetroot with poached egg and (below) Pulled Ham Hock with lentils soup.  Both sold out today!  Expect daily specials with a new menu coming soon.  If you're on twitter you can follow Bec @bextsakaye. So welcome Bec. 

Last week Pip and I were stoked to be a part of the 2011 State of Design Festival - Urban Realities 3 Day Design Challenge courtesy of Breath Architecture who subsequently won the challenge. We had the easy part though, Slayer coffee machine and coffee were supplied by Coffee Supreme. It was nice to spend sometime getting to know it, albeit in bloody cold & rainy conditions. Elaine of Abbotsford Club, My Sister Says & Servery & Spoon & Alex of The Premises also did some time on the coffee. The below pic is Jeremy of Breathe giving a talk on the ideas behind their concept. Loved the notion of blocking out the eyesore that is the Docklands. Aside from the visual and relevant aspect of the water, the water barriers also blocked out the wind. And a section was left open facing the water as the one true line of sight for beauty(and that's not towards Etihad) Man what an absolute disgrace the Docklands is. It really makes me angry when you see time and time again, Melbourne being ruined by weak councils & governments in the face of souless & self serving property developers. Way to go Jeremy and Crew on your much deserved win. More information here from Broadsheet 

Dead Man staff coffee tour. Need to do more of these. Blessed with lots of choices to cup coffee around in Melbourne. First stop Seven Seeds. The Brazil Ambiental stood out, really noticeable hazelnuts. The Kenya (whatever it was ) was delicious as well. There was also a surprise blend from another roaster on the table which tasted like, smelly socks and old tyres. Reminded me of when I did work experience as a mechanic back in high school. It really highlights the quality of what Seven Seeds does and the act of 'coffee washing' that some people can do in the name of specialty coffee. Was so surprised that a blend could taste so bad! Shameful. 

Next stop Coffee Supreme to get a rundown on the Slayer by Justin. I highly recommend anyone on the market for a coffee machine to go have a chat to Justin about the Slayer, I'm sure you'll walk away impressed with the level of knowledge he & his crew have on coffee machines and the commitment to the servicing & maintenance side of the Slayer. 

Final stop at Proud Mary for a pour over of Panama Don Pachi Geisha - Natural Process. Wow, Fruity as. Strawberries & a whole lot more! Y'all gotta get down and try that one. Also a syphon filter of Rwanda Abakundakawa COE #13. Sweet & caramelly. Some more espresso of I can't remember what and we all finished, Kelly, Pip & Toby No. 1 & myself with some mighty tasty lamb sandwiches.