Home installation by Rone at Chadstone Shopping Centre

Last week we went to see a house in a shopping centre.  Weird, eh?  I usually would not go across the city to Chadstone Shopping Centre but for one of Rone's charming nostalgic installations, I would cross the country.  He is a master of creating spaces that make the familiar feel beautiful and emotionally charged.  Rone is so skilled at making shabby chic from nothing, to create decay and timeworn at its most perfect moment.  In reality, this moment does not last but in his artwork it seems eternal and so real.

We arrive just before our booking and join the group of others who have booked for 2pm.  The staff give us an overview of the exhibition: only go one way through the house to avoid bottlenecks, no touching the installations because everything - even the dust and cobwebs - have been meticulously created.  Then we enter as a group into a charming Australian home of yesteryear.

In the hall is an old seat that incorporates a table where you can sit while you chat on your landline phone.  It is from the time when phones were anchored to a cord.  I also love the wooden dado that comes halfway up the sides of the walls.

Let me stop here to tell you that this was a difficult exhibition to photograph.  The rooms are small and seven or eight people in a bedroom that is built for two people feels crowded.  The lights are in constant but gentle transition between dim and even dimmer.  The eyes adjust.  The camera struggles.  It is like shooting at a moving target .  As soon as the light is finally right, the view is blocked out by a fellow visitor walking into the shot!

However the dim rosy lights and the soothing music add to the air of nostalgia for a lost time.  I had the sensation of the owners having lived in the house for a long time and just left.  This is like the time I viewed a house on sale that was deceased estate.  Although the shopping mall lights are bright, in this house it is evening with a dark back yard. 

The first room is the bedroom dominated by the double bed.  This is the room of a couple who are honest salt of the earth workers with not much money to spare.

The age of the house is not clear.  On a calendar in the kitchen the year is 1992.  If that were so, this couple might have moved as newly weds and lived there a long happy but simple life.  The fireplaces are a sign that it is an older 20th Century house.  Perhaps 1920s or 1930s.

In the corner of the bedroom is a an old wooden desk with a desktop that can be folded up to save space.  Inside are lots of drawers for letter, accounts and stationery.  

The one item that really stood out in the bedroom was the tub of Ponds cream with a thick layer of dust on top.  Did the woman stop using it?  Is it a sign that she no longer felt young and pretty.  My mum used to have ponds cream.  I remember it was used to remove make up.

Also in this photo collage are a pile of old books in the bedroom, vinyl records in the loungeroom, kitsch cat figurines joined by cobwebs on the mantelpiece, an old candelabra and the tools neatly hung in the back shed.
   

This is the lounge room with a saggy old lounge suit.  The winged armchairs have antimacassars over the back of them, that were to protect the chairs from a man's brylcreamed combed hair.  On the floor is a pile of World War magazines that the man might have enjoyed reading in the evenings.  There are too many to fit into the small magazine holder and there is no coffee table, just an ottomon where the newspaper has been placed.  The wooden grampahone and its speakers are huge in today's terms where we have this function inside a phone that will fit into our hand.  In front of the fire is an embroidered screen.

To the other side of the mantelpiece is a glass cabinet where good china and figures can be displayed.  This is a place for wedding gifts and holiday souvenirs.

The phone on the wall in the kitchen is so evocative for my generation that remember the curly cord and the rotary dial on the phone.  It sits by the bench where the woman could easily reach it to gossip while she was working in the kitchen.  The letter holders and cannisters were a familiar sight in kitchens of my youth.  I even spy the familiar blue white and red stripes at the edge of an airmail envelope.  Did they have family overseas because they were migrants?

Everyone wanted to stand in the kitchen so I got very little in the way of opportunity to photograph it.  But I was compelled to get photos of a kitchen with lovely low green cupboards and oven as well as a bench that reminds me of how our home original had a bench separating the kitchen from the living and dining, a bench that had glass windows on the cupboards overhead so crockery could be displayed.  (Our windowed cupboards and bench have been moved against the wall now.)

In the corner of the kitchen is a dusty collection of kitchen paraphernalia: a teapot, a toast rack, a transister radio, a glass mug and a jug.  My eye is drawn to the folded newspaper where someone is mid crossword and the headline reads "Norths may shift camp to Coburg".  The story relates to plans to move the home ground of North Melbourne's then VFL club to Coburg in 1965.

This was my last photo I took in the house.  As I went into the gift shop at the end I saw in the postcards that I had missed the iconic Rone female faceon the kitchen wall.  I went back to see it with my own eyes.  No regrets that I ignored the instructions that we were not to backtrack. On the other side of the wall is the loungeroom with the piano.

This is another view of the dining room with the lace tablecloth on the table and a dresser filled with glasses and crockery.  On top of the dresser is the good silver including the candelabra.

I was fascinated by the back yard for a number of reasons.  This was the most spacious part of the exhibition and it was so evocative of a past where back yards were much bigger.  There was before the time when everyone had a renovation to build a large backroom with French windows looking out to the new wooden deck and little room was left for the garden. (I checked and the garden is not real.  The trea trunk felt like foam. (Ssh don't tell!)

Speaking to a friend about the exhibition, she loved the garden with the mix of healthy plants and some struggling plants.  She was also excited that the bottles in the crates were the same brand she had.  They were not Noddys which is the brand of lemonade that we used to buy and leave out empty bottles to be collected.  I felt nostalgic for the old round metal garbage bins.  They weren't practical - lo and behold if it it was knoecked over and the lid fell off and all the contents were strewn about the garden.  But in our age of lots of bins for recycling, these small bins seem so simple.

This sort of yard with lots of grass and a tree in the middle of it, is the sort of yard I gew up with.  There was always grass to mown and the wheelbarrow out for gardening at the side.  On the left of the above photo you can see the light of the little back shed where the man of the house would be fixing and creating and listening to his team's footy match on his trannie.  Beside the shed is a little lemon tree.  No self respecting garden would have been without one.

The brick path through the back garden was charming with it's slight unevenness to show that it was put down by the owners, just like my dad put brick paths in our backyard.  There was always room for the rotary Hills Hoist clothes line that way utilitarian unless you were a small child who dared to swing on it.  (And who didn't?)  By the clothes line is the washing basket on the trolley so it could be wheeled from the laundry.

Actually there was no laundry in sight, nor a bathroom.  It would be small in a house like this with no toroughfare and difficult to accommodate a group.  And in this slmall space, I am sure hard decisions needed o be made.  Or was it to remind us that it was not as real as it felt.

There was an old car parked at the end of the drivewayThis is the sort of driveway that my parents have down one side of their house with the two strips of concrete for the wheels and grass all around.  My parents don't use their driveway much but a driveway is great  for washing a car.  We left down the driveway and just before we reached the side gate, was a brightly lit gift shop.

Then we were out the gate and back into the bright lights of the shopping centre.  When I first heard about the house in the shopping centre I imagined it to be freestanding.  It was not as you can see in the above photo.  It sits between a mega make up and skin care store and an outdoor clothing and adventure store.  Above it the sign for the lego store is light up with a neon sign.

Chadstone is shocking after such an immersive experience in an era when stuff was simple and made to last.  The shabby aged house sits meekly in the busy shopping centre where every store is bright and bold and fun and begging for attention and money.  Rone's Home exhibition is a charming oasis, a rest from the modern assault on the senses, a reminder of what we don't need.  The irony of it being in a a loud sleek shrine to commerce is not lost on either Chadstone nor Rone.  It wont stop drawing people in for a moment of quiet beauty before they go shopping!

HOME – An Exhibition by Rone
Light to Night Festival
Chadstone Shopping Centre
1341 Dandenong Road, Chadstone, Melbourne
11 June to 12 July 2026
Chadstone exhibition webpage
https://rone.art/

More Rone artwork can be seen on Green Gourmet Giraffe at:

Time by Rone, Art installations 

Street Art in Melbourne: Collingwood 

Street Art in Melbourne: Fitzroy 

Miss Fishers Murder Mysteries Tour, Gin Palace and historic Melbourne buildings

 

A few weeks back, I had the pleasure of joining a friend to take the Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries Tour in Melbourne.  It was a joy to walk through the south east of the city centre and hear about the filming of Kerry Greenwood's Phryne Fisher mystery novels and gain an insight into the buildings involved.  Over three hours our tour leader, Kathy, shared wonderful stories about Melbourne's social and architectural history, especially as it related to the buildings we saw on our walk.

It is not my intention to share the stories here.  Those are Kathy's stories to tell on the tour and I did not take notes.  I am sharing my photos I took on the tour, an overview of the tour and my impressions of the places.  I have visited quite a few of the buildings on the tour at other times.  At the end of this post, I have listed links to where I have written more about my experiences with these buildings.

Our first stop was Cafe Excello (99 Spring Street) for light afternoon tea of lemon slice, brownie (or chai tea cake for the vegan) and hot drinks.  It was not a notably historic or memorable cafe but it was where Kathy gave us an introduction: housekeeping, an introduction to Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries (as the tv series is called) and the history of Melbourne.  I am quite familiar with both the tv show and history but learnt a more from Kathy.

I first heard about the Phryne Fisher books about 30 years ago when hearing the author Kerry Greenwood give a talk about her books to a history group.  Since then I have read quite a few of the books and seen the tv series.  I have always had respect for the historic research that is the foundation for the story about the dashing and wealthy Miss Fisher who solves murder mysteries in 1920's Melbourne with the support of her maid Dot and a couple of loveable working class communists called Cec and Bert, and the reluctant help of Detective Inspector Jack Robinson.  It is great fun but also insightful with social commentary about the time.

The Windsor Hotel Ballroom

The history of Melbourne in the roaring 1920s is an exuberant city of post war optimism with a dark underbelly (including the First Nations people displaced to make this city).  The magnificently ornate buildings were erected over the decades following the 1850's gold rush that converted John Batman's colonial village into a wealthy Victorian city.  It is a familiar story to me as a Melbourne history enthusiast but Kathy's stories had many details I did not know.

Kathy was a fantastic story teller with lots of colouful details and a keen eye for connections as she told the story of Melbourne.  For example she told a story about the decision about the city's wide streets being made to allow vehicles to turn easily, and that this in turn had made space for the creation of a tram system that exists to this day.  Often during the tour she would allude to one place having an association with another, but she would pause and promise to tell more about at another stop.

The Windsor Hotel reception and entrance

The first place we stopped was to have a quick peek into was the Windosr Hotel, one the grand 19th Century hotel.  I am very fond of this place, having stayed at the hotel when seeing a musical a few years back and had their famous high tea on a couple of occasions.  I enjoyed one amazing high tea in the gorgeous ballroom (pictured).  The above photo of the entrance reminds me of checking in to stay there.

The Windsor was one of the first places we looked at where the building history included plans to demolish it followed by being miraculously saved.  We had a fascinating discussion about Whelan the Wrecker who knocked down so many of the grand Victorian buildings of Melbourne.  

Kathy recommended watching a documentary about this called The Lost City of Melbourne.  If you are interested in seeing lots of rare footage about Melbourne's history with commentary about the changes in Melbourne that resulted in many extravagant buildings being lost as well as the stories of many who were saved, it well worth a watch.  (It is currently streaming on SBS On Demand in Australia).

Parliament House

The area at the top of the city has a wealth of heritage buildings including Parliament House, Tasma Terrace and Treasury building, all of which I have been lucky to visit previously (see links at the end of the post).  We stood outside Parliament House with the glow of the sun reflected on the autumn leaves.  Kathy told us stories about filming the Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries at these buildings and used her ipad to showed clips of scenes from the tv series.  We saw a few more film clips during the tour.

The tour is an official tour of the show.  Kathy has spent a lot of time with the producers and others involved in making the tv series.  She told us stories about how they closed off streets to film, how the editors skillfully stitched together scenes from different locations and how Phryne's stunning 1920 wardrobe was created.  The insider stories of scenes I remembered were definitely a highlight of the tour.

Treasury Building

One scene we discussed was the Treasury Building masquerading as the University of Melbourne.  Both Parliament House and the Treasury Building have grand flights of steps that make for a popular location for wedding photos.  Above you can see a wedding party on the steps of Treasury.  While we stood talking about the building, it was fun spotting all the brides in big white dresses.

Entrance to the Melbourne Club

Another fun part of the stories were the private clubs of Melbourne  The best known is The Melbourne Club for gentlemen, which has a grand but discreet entrance.  There is just one tiny sign well up the other end of the building from the front door.  Of course, Phyrne belonged to one of the private ladies' clubs.

St Michael's Uniting Church

Not all stories were directly related to Phryne Fisher.  Some were about the general history of Melbourne that helped understand the 1920s Melbourne where her story was set.  We stopped at the corner of Russel and Exhibitions Streets so Kathy could talked to us about the buildings on the four corners.  

Scots Church Melbourne

On two of the corners are the St Michael's Church and Scots' Church.  It is fascinating to see the different architecture of the two churches.  I also liked the story of Nellie Melba's association with the Scots' Church.

The top photo is of the facade of the Neo-Gothic Assembly Hall building of Scots' Church where you can see the "Old and Rare Books" sign of Kay Craddock's Antiquarian Booksellers.  I love all the random amazing buildings in Melbourne that I pass regularly.  The tour was a great chance to stop and think about them in more detail. 

Collins Street Baptist Church

We stopped to admire the Collins Street Baptist Church.  A church built in the style of a classical Greek temple is a rare sight in the city of Melbourne.

Melbourne Place

Melbourne had a grid of wide streets with generous blocks that allow plenty of space for laneways.  I had rewatched the first episode of Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries to reacquaint myself with the series.  Melbourne Place is one of the narrow laneways where Phryne encountered some of the nefarious characters of 1920s Melbourne.  

As we stood waiting for Kathy to start telling us about how the filming of the tv show in the laneway ended with the evacuation of a nearby hotel, a huge truck began to back in with noising beeps to warn us it was reversing.  I was impressed at the way Kathy took it in her stride, moving aside and waiting for the truck to stop before repositioning us so she could resume her story.

Mayfair Building

If you want to really appreciate the architecture of Melbourne, you must look up beyond the modern shops and offices to see the impressive facades.  We heard stories of many of these such as the facade of the eight story Edwardian Mayfair Building that is all that remains of this old concert hall and cinema which is now modern offices occupied by BHP.

The Regent Theatre

Another common theme was theatres and cinemas.  Of the many remaining in Melbourne's city, the Regent Theatre is one of the ones that makes me the most sentimental.  It was to be demolished as part of the City Square development but a union ban (thank you Norm Gallagher) and a community campaign saved it.  This story makes me appreciate how small the city square is.

In the early 1990s I visited the neglected building before it was restored to its former grandeur.  I remember seeing a huge chandelier prostrate on the floor and all the shabby but ornate decorations.  A few years later I was there again after it was its first musical performance after restoration: Sunset Boulevard starring Hugh Jackman and Debra Byrne.  I was amazed at the lavish interior with a sweeping staircase and golden statues everywhere I looked.  I haven't returned since but maybe one day!

I was also fascinated by the history of the Athenaeum Theatre opposite.  It is a theatre where I have seen many shows including Wogs out of Work, Barry Humphries as Sandy Stone and the comedian Daniel Kitson.
 

Parrot outside Melbourne Town Hall

We walked past the Melbourne Town Hall.  This is a building that dominates Swanston Street and has a central role in the city's history.  I have seen the Choir of Hard Knocks in the Auditorium and comedy festival shows including Dave O'Neil and Rod Quantock.  Our tour was on the last day of the Rising Festival and the buzz of the crowds was a sight to behold.  The photo of the colourful parrot on someone's shoulder as people came out of the Town Hall encapsulates the colour and crowds.

Gin Palace lounge

A highlight of the tour was that it ended with cocktails at the Gin Palace.  This is an icon of the Melbourne laneway bars scene.  It is the re-imagining of the Gin Palace in the 1880s Marvellous Melbourne of luxury and debauchery.  As we descended into the dimly lit basement, it felt like stepping into history.  The decor is opulent extravagance that calls to mind elegant dress and witty banter.  Yet it welcomes everyone with the chandelier, fancy couches with plump embroidered upholstery and large floral arrangements.

Gin Palace lounge, framed pictures and chandelier

We sit in this corner with Kathy and order a cocktail that is included in the cost of the tour.  I am very happy to find mocktails on the drinks menu.  (It was not clear when I checked the website.)  I order the Ambrosia: "Sweet, bubbly fruit cup with apple pie spice: raspberry & clove shrub, apple pie tea, cinnamon, and pear soda ($12)."  The warm spices in my drink are lovely on a winter's day.

Kathy is very generous in talking about how she came to do these tours and is happy to answer our questions.  During the tour she talks so much and dug so many facts and stories from her mind that ishe seems very content to also sit and listen to us talk about our lives.  We are all very happy to sink back into the chairs, sip a cold drink and chat after all that walking.  We have fun trying to identify the faces in the framed pictures around us.  I am particularly amused at the riff on the Claude Monet painting, Woman with a Parasol, only this one had Darth Vader replacing the woman!
 

Gin Palace mocktails menu

After Kathy left, I stayed with Jo and her friend for another drink.  I love that the mocktails menu has an option for adding gin to each mocktail to make them more inclusive.  This meant that when I chose to have the Booch Please mocktail (kombucha and tonic: $13), Jo chose to have it as well but with the optional gin ($23).  K had a strawberry mocktail.  You can see them in the photo below.  I was surprised that's Jo's Gin Booch Please was much larger than my mocktail version.  No wonder the price difference was so huge.  The Booch Please was a revelation.  Who knew the kombucha could be so good in a mocktail! It was my first drink with tonic I have really enjoyed.  It was a refreshing combination of tart, bitter and sweet.

Gin Palace cocktails

I am really glad I decided to fork out $149 (gulp) and did this tour.  While pricey, there was so much information, entertainment and fun in the three hours, so much I learnt, the afternoon tea to start and the mocktail at the end.  If you are interested in Melbourne's architectural and social history and/or insider stories about Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, I highly recommend this tour.

Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries Tour
Run by MELtours (Melbourne Walking Tours)
Melbourne CBD
1.30pm Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays
Cost $149
www.meltours.com.au/tours/missfishermurdermysteriestour

Gin Palace
10 Russell Pl, Melbourne CBD
Open 7 days, 4pm to 3am 
www.ginpalace.com.au

More posts on Green Gourmet Giraffe about visiting historic buildings in south east of Melbourne CBD that were featured in the tour:

• Hotel Windsor - high tea
• Hotel Windsor - accommodation and breakfast 
• Open House Melbourne 2012 including Tasma Terrace  
• Open House 2014 including Old Treasury Building 
• Tea Rooms 1892, Block Arcade
• Victorian Parliament House: photos of a tour 

Mexican spiced rice and rice bowls

Rice bowls are my answer to the demands of having a healthy meal when life is busy.  Once we have the rice, it is not so hard to build a bowl of goodness around it.  Our latest favourite rice recipss is a Mexican spiced rice that we stumbled across when it was a component of a Plant You recipe for meal prep burritos in January.  I have lost count of the number of times we have made the spiced rice since.

[Top photo: Mexican spiced rice with seasoned black beans, air fryer roasted cherry tomatoes, pickled red onion, lettuce, pickled purple cabbage, red capsicum.)

It is a simple recipe but has favourite spices and tastes lovely.  Great flavour for a little effort.  It can be easier with dried garlic but I really love adding jarred minced garlic instead.  Once the rice is made, it feels a lot less effort to chop some raw vegies, add some tofu or beans, rustle up any leftovers and a dollop of yoghurt or a squeeze of lemon juice and dinner is ready with a great tasty rice.   

 

Yesterday I had one of those crazy days when I felt overwhelmed by life.  I was working from home but it did not feel relaxing.  We are having a busy week with appointments, an exhibition, a movie and a walking tour.  At work I had meetings, last minute requests and new systems that challenged me.  Our cat clawed at my back to ask to me take him to his food.  My dad came at lunchtime to attach a new door handle on our backdoor.  The door knob had totally failed a week ago so he came over and hacksaw off latch.  We then gaffer taped over the hole until he was able to return.  Sylvia was on her online classes in the lounge room before going for lunch with a friend and returning in a burst of excitement at the good food.  At 5.30pm I had a history society meeting but wanted to print the minutes before I left.  The printer needed more paper and once I got it printing, it jammed halfway through.  So I rushed over only to find only half the subcommittee there.  I came home with a promise of doing the minutes and then heard that my next door neighbour's gorgeous little cat with the black love heart on her nose had died of kidney failure.

On days like that I start thinking I need to simplify my life.  One easy solution was this spiced rice that we had had on Monday.  I had cooked it on Sunday so that we had an easy meal on the first night of the working week.  Now I am planning to make this or other easy grains each week on Sunday night so I just cobble together a rice bowl of sorts each Monday.  It could be one small change to make life easier! 

One thing I really like about this  is that it does not stick to the bottom of the saucepan.  I have had problems with burnt and/or dry Mexican rice before.  So when I looked at the amount of water on the Plant You recipe, I decided to increase it.  Most times it has worked but occasionally it was a little wet.  As we usually have leftovers, this makes sure that the rice is not too dry the next day (or the day after).  If you prefer a drier rice, I would suggest 4 cups of water rather than 4 1/2 cups.

The above photo collage shows the ways we have accompanied the Mexican spiced rice:

• Top left: fried chopped panisse, seasoned fried tempeh, tofu scramble, grated carrot, lettuce, cucumber and red capsicum.  (Below you can see Sylvia's version of this that also includes sauerkraut)
• Top right: tofu "beef", lettuce, tomato, purple cabbage and chipotle lime cashew sauce.
• Bottom left: cheese and bean quesadillas with the spiced rice, lettuce, cabbage, red capsicum, yoghurt, salsa and feta.
• Bottom right: lettuce, red cabbage, tomatoes, corn, seasoned black beans, feta and crispy fried Field roast chorizo crumbles

You can see that not all the rice bowls we have had were Mexican themed.  We have also had the spiced rice with tortilla chips, tacos, and/or an adobe sauce.  I have previously enjoyed Mexican rice with corn, peas and red capsicum which would work well cooked in this or even some herbs or spring onions stirred in after cooking.  
 

 

This Mexican rice is truly a versatile side dish with many possibilities.  I would like to try it in an enchilada with beans and cheese or maybe in a a nacho bake layered with a chilli con carne, cheese and corn chips, and of course in a burrito.  It would also go well with a variety of salads on the side.  I have even taken it to work for lunch with raw chopped vegies and chickpeas and yoghurt.  I am looking forward to experimenting with it as one of our regular Monday dishes.

More Mexican-inspired recipes with rice on Green Gourmet Giraffe: 

Mexican rice in the microwave (gf, v)
Mexican rice (with salsa) (gf, v)
Okinawa taco rice - meat-free (gf) 
Spinach, pumpkin and bean burritos (gf)
Stuffed squash with tex mex rice and beans (gf, v)

Mexican spiced rice
Adapted from Plant You
Serves 6

 To fry the rice:

• 1 tbsp olive oil 
• 1 1/2 cups white long grain rice, (I use basmati)

 Spice seasoning:

• 3 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tsp garlic powder or paste
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
• 1/4 tsp black pepper 

To boil the rice:

• 4 to 4 1/2 cups water (or less)
• 1 tsp stock powder 
• 1 tbsp lime juice, optional, for brightness

Put together the spice seasoning mixture first so you are ready to add it when rice is cooked.  I usually heat the frypan on low while I do this.

Heat oil in a large saucepan.  Once warm stir in rice and fry for about 2 minutes over medium high heat.  Stir frequently.  It will smell toasted when it is ready but I find it fries a bit while adding the spices so a little underdone is better than overdone.

Add spice seasoning and stir constantly for 1 minute over low heat until well mixed.

Pour in the water and stock powder.  Stir well and bring to the boil over high heat.  Simmer covered for 10 minutes.  Remove from the heat and leave lid on to continue absorbing the steam for at least 10 minutes.

Serve hot or warm.  The spiced rice can be made the night before or kept in the fridge for a few days. 

On the stereo:
Chelsea Girl: Nico

Roll Bae, cinnamon buns in Brunswick

We are a sucker for a good cinnamon scroll!  And Roll Bae in East Brunswick gets our thumbs up for their soft gooey scrolls with plenty of fun flavours.  They also do a great line in vegan scrolls.  If you are after one, beware that they sell out.  Sylvia went there with E a few weeks back but by noon there were no vegan scrolls left.  That was why we managed to arrive there at 9.30am yesterday.  She was determined to sample a scroll and was very glad she did.

The cafe is painted a light green and has some fun details that make it a lovely place to eat in.  I loved this little ceramic cinnamon scroll by the counter.  Also livening up the cashier section where we ordered are a candle, flowers and some cute little bunnies, one of which seems to be riding in a carrot!

The first thing we did upon entering was to check out all the scrolls.  The Triple cheese and vegemite was the one savoury option and very tempting.  Sylvia was sad there was no vegan apple scroll this week but was pleased to be able to choose between the Biscoff and the Original.  I was happy to have a large selection of non-vegan scrolls including Tiramisu, S'mores, Bueno and Apple crumble.  

There are a selection of hot and cold drinks including espresso, piccolo, magic, chai latte, hot chocolate, iced matcha mango sago, iced banana pudding matcha and iced pistachio cloud hojicha.  The main food is scrolls but you can also have toasties, pies and hash browns.

The cafe reaches back into the end of the building with a narrowed space down the end.  I really liked the large mirror at the end of this space so if you were facing away from the front you could still see some of the activity there.  Mention must also be made of the gorgeous lead light design above the back door.

The back section also has a bookshelf for browsing.  I love looking at any bookshelf but was distracted by the little display on top of plants, a crocheted sunflower and crochet Totoro arranged on a lace cloth.  Above them are a quirky gathering of frames with a Secret Garden illustration, a dog with a glass of wine and a mirror that reads "the pursuit of what sets your soul on fire".  I like the think that this cafe sets the owner's soul on fire!  It should.

I wanted to try all of the scrolls but contented myself with pistachio scroll.  It was excellent soft and slightly warm  scroll with a generous topping of pistachio frosting and nuts.  A couple next to us were musing on it being like a brioche dough.  It is a tribute to the frosting that I ate it all.  So often I find frosting to be too sweet and cloying but I am guessing that this had pistachio paste in it to give the lovely flavour and thicker texture, and perhaps some cream cheese.  

Likewise, Sylvia was delighted with Biscoff scroll.  It had lots of gooey caramel Biscoff sauce topped with a good vegan cream - which is always a treat for a vegan - and a Biscoff biscuit.  Both scrolls were so gooey and soft that they needed to be eaten with a fork.  Sylvia also had an iced mango sago matcha which came with a little chunk of brownie.  The brownie was not vegan so I ate it for her.  Things I do!

The old wooden grama phone player in the centre of the cafe adds a touch of class.  After we ate at Rolls Bae we went diagonally across Moreland Road to the Wakim Antiques and Restorations.  While chatting during a purchase, the owner told us he had sold this piece of furniture to the owners and that they were a lovely Chinese couple.  If you are interested in browsing a huge warehouse of antique furniture and fascinating brick-a-brack, I highly recommend walking off your scrolls in this direction.

 

I loved this poster saying "Cinnamon Scrolls are edible hugs".  Very true.  This is one of the reasons that this cafe is popular.  People came and went the whole time, some buying scrolls to take away.  I have heard that are queues at times but we didn't have to wait too long to order.

We are now spoiled for cinnamon scrolls in Brunswick as another cinnamon roll bakery called Simply Mike's, has recently opened on Sydney Road.  I mention it here because it was we visited it when it was called Cinnabuns at its old location in Albion.  The cinnamon scrolls were amazing.  Mike had a very unpleasant experience when the giant USA franchise Cinnabons sued Cinnabuns for having a name for his bakery that was too close to theirs.  (Apparently they have 26 stores in Australia but I have never seen them).  It is disappointing to such a huge bakery chain using their might to try and quash our local talent. In light of this, I am very pleased to have two independent bakeries in Brunswick whose cinnamon buns are here for love not war!

  

I was glad to get along and sample the lovely cinnamon buns at Roll Bae but we didn't outlast our welcome, as the sign above reminds us, to beware the parking inspectors around this small shopping strip.  I highly recommend their scrolls but note that if you are after vegan scrolls they are only available on Fridays and Saturdays!

 
Roll Bae
90 Holmes Street, Brunswick
Open: Wed – Sun: 9am – 3pm
https://rollbae.com.au/