You have to take the good with the bad Seddon - Lunch at Chicco

Ok ... firstly, the next few posts will be slightly out of whack timewise! I'm trying to catch up so many things I sometimes feel like I can't breathe! So I'm just going to let my brain run with it!

So this concerns a recent visit to Chicco on Charles Street in Seddon.

You're going to want to shut this page down in disgust as I display a flagrant sense of elitism when I say that Chicco ticks all the right coolbrunchcafe boxes ... cavernous space with found objects as light and display fittings, tattooed androgony behind coffee machine, blogger berated/heralded choice of coffee bean (Padre in this case), breakfast/lunch menu with all the right highlights, and the pull of a burgeoning local urbane crowd ... but I just don't know what it is ... it all feels slightly put on. Or rather, it doesn't have a strong design ethic, but it doesn't have the feel of an organic process either.

I think what really bolstered my feeling of mistrust was the fact that M's chicken pie came out slightly burnt ... and no one batted an eyelid or even attempted an apology ... and really if you were in anyways proud of your produce and your cafe, you wouldn't let that off the pass, regardless of whether your punter minded or not ...

However my Wasabi Salmon with avocado and wasabi cream cheese on Rye was exactly what the doctor ordered. Amazing Rye bread, with a nice wasabi hint, from a kitchen that isn't scared to salt an avocado. So clearly where it counts (almost) they're manning the boards quite competently.

Coffee comes in cheery colours much like they do at Footscray Milking Station. And it was all in all a pretty pleasant experience.

So I'm torn (between 2 lovers, feeling like a fool)! I still can't shake the feeling of disingenous artifice ... and their website doesn't help either as it plays a Charlie Chaplin movie in a loop on its welcome page. Slight teeth on edge or early onset Tinnitus ...

Regardless, it still is a welcoming place and has a decent menu and does good coffee. So check it out when you can ... and commiserate with me that we didn't have the forethought of buying into Seddon when it was still reasonably affordable.