Village On Cloey – Clovelly’s Hottest New Addition

By Madeleine Gray on April 15, 2016 in Food

The first thing that I noticed when I entered Village on Cloey – the hottest café addition to Clovelly Road since forever – was that ‘If I Were A Boy’ by Beyoncé is playing. To be honest, I was pretty happy to just give the place five stars and call it a day right then and there, but in the interest of thorough journalism, I stuck around. And I am very glad I did, because the food was delicious too.

The Village is the creation of two old mates, Diogo and Simon. The pair met back when they were 14-year-old lads, and now, 14 years later, with a wealth of experience under their belts in the hospitality and business worlds respectively, they’ve come together to give Clovelly the coffee and food it deserves.

You might recognise Diogo simply from the fact that he has been a staple in the Sydney café scene since he was born – his parents owned and ran La Patisserie in Petersham, then Portuguese pastry shop Fleur de Lys in Bondi Beach, and finally Pastelaria Caravela in Bondi Junction (you surely remember the delectable crumbly custard tarts, if nothing else). Diogo and Simon are joined in their venture by another old friend, chef Kyle Johns, previously of Otto, Flying Fish and Summit (now O Bar and Dining).

The café space itself is cool, but not ostentatiously so. The exposed concrete ceiling and floor are an interesting contrast to the copper and cork elements that flit across the room’s various surfaces. According to Diogo, the cork is a nod to “traditional Portuguese vibes” – a comment that I only pretended to understand until I hit Google and learnt that Portugal produces half of the cork harvested annually worldwide (the things you learn!).

Moving along to the most important part of the experience: the food. The Reuben sandwich was the opposite of hip stinginess – it was a pure, gluttonous, cheesy delight. Big hunks of corned beef sat atop cascading, melted Swiss cheese, spicy mustard dressing, house pickles and rye. The flame grilled spatchcock with puy lentils, sweet potato, chimichurri and lemon was another clever nod to Diogo’s Portuguese roots, and the kombucha cured salmon, which is cured in-house for 24 hours or more (depending on the size of the fish) gets a zesty rush with the addition of pickled chili and orange dressing.

The coffee is Single Origin – it’s creamy, hot and delicious – and the bread (apart from the rye) is from Brickfields, but what really sets this place apart is not that it stocks the cool brands, but that it maintains a respect for family and tradition, even down to the croissants, tarts and pastries, which are cooked according to Diego’s dad’s old recipes.

There is something truly lovely about eating food that has a history, so saunter down to Clovelly Road and give the Village a go. It’s muito gostoso!

Village on Cloey
Address: 231 Clovelly Rd, Clovelly
Instagram: @villageoncloey
Facebook: www.facebook.com/villageoncloey
Opening Hours: 6:30am – 3pm
Prices: $15–25
Cards Accepted: All majors
Licensed/BYO: Not yet