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Sorry, it may help people to come and try Lantana if I tell you where it is.

13 Charlotte Place, W1T1SN

The full menu

Breakfast 8-12 (All day Saturday)

Toasted muesli w banana, yoghurt and honey 4.5

Bircher muesli w apple and berries 4.5

Poached fruit w greek yoghurt + pistachios 4

Fresh fruit salad w mint and sweet ginger dressing 4.5

Toasted banana bread w date and pecan butter 4

Sourdough toast w vegemite or jam 2.5

Lantana baked beans w crumbled feta, sautéed spinach and sausages on sourdough toast 8.5

Field mushrooms sauteed w parsley and garlic served with
grated parmesan on sour dough toast 7.6

Pancakes w greek yoghurt and baked fruit 7

Poached eggs on toast 5

Scrambled eggs w smoked salmon on brioche w
fresh tomato salad 8

Corn fritters w crispy bacon, rocket, oven roasted tomatoes and
lime aioli 8

Baked eggs w buttered baby spinach and mushrooms served w tomato and red pepper chutney toasted sourdough 8

Sides
Bacon 2.4
Lantana baked beans 2
Slow roast tomatoes 2
HG Walter’s sausages 3
Sautéed spinach 2
Mushrooms 2

Lunch from 12pm

Open sandwich w bacon, rocket, sliced tomato, & fried egg w aioli 6.5

Corn fritters w layers of crisp bacon, rocket, oven roasted tomatoes, drizzled w roast garlic & lime aioli 8.5

Tart of the day served w choice of two salads from the counter 8

Salad plate of your choice of three from the counter 7.8

Steak sandwich w rocket, fresh tomato, caramelised onion relish and horseradish crème friache 8.5

Moroccan lamb skewers w flat bread and mint yoghurt served w bulgur, walnut, celery and pomegranate salad 8.7

Lemon & coriander infused chicken skewers served w served with salad from the salad bar and tomato and red pepper chutney 8.7

Sharing plate w bruschetta, olives, dips and prosciutto (for 2) 10

To Drink

Non-Alcoholic

Fresh orange juice
Virgin mary
Belu Still (750ml)
Belu Sparkling (750ml)
San Peligrino Limonato, Orangina
Bundaberg ginger beer

Alcoholic
Bloody Mary
Di Valdo bbiadene Proseco

Wine
St Roch grenache blanc
Bird in Hand sauvignon blanc
Camplazens rose
St Roch merlot
Bird in Hand shiraz

Beer
Coopers pale ale
Coopers sparkling ale
Menabrea

Coffee (extra shot 30p, Soy milk 50p)
Latte
Flatwhite
Capuccino
Long black
Mocha
Espresso
Machiatto
Hot Chocolate
Pot of Tea: English breakfast/Earl grey/Rooibos/Chai/Peppermint/Green

She's only gone and done it

Open for business at last. Hurrah.


As I opened the door at 8am on Friday morning, our first customer walked in, ordered a coffee and poached eggs, sat down and read the paper in the morning sunshine. Brilliant. This is going to be easy.

Unfortunately our beginners luck didn’t continue and we had a very slow morning




Thankfully, a respectable amount of people came for lunch. A couple of them weren’t even related to me.

I had a strange feeling as I cycled home after our first day. It was similar to the feeling I used to get when I’d finish exams. Instead of feeling euphoric and relieved, I felt a bit lost and empty. Suddenly, the goal I have been working towards for so many months has been achieved. I’ve opened a café.

While part of me wants to curl into a little ball and sleep for a few months, I know that the hard part is ahead: getting people to know that we exist and understand what we are.

Here are a couple of the dine in items on the menu which have already been receiving rave reviews from the punters.

Home baked beans with feta, sautéed spinach and sausages on sourdough toast

Scrambled eggs w smoked salmon on brioche w fresh tomato salad

Corn fritters with layers of crisp bacon, rocket, oven roasted tomatoes, drizzled with roast garlic & lime aioli

Steak sandwich with rocket, fresh tomato, caramelised onion relish and horseradish crème friache

Moroccan lamb skewers with flat bread and mint yoghurt served with bulgur, walnut, celery and pomegranate salad

We also do fantastic salads, tarts, sandwiches, brownies, muffins etc for takeaway.

So come on peeps- come and try us out.

Race to the finish line

Its all hands on the wallpaper as we hurtle towards opening THIS FRIDAY!



The enormity and excitement of what I am about to embark on really hit me tonight as I locked the door after an exhausting day of cleaning, prepping, crying, screaming and finally smiling as the "building site" began to look like a cafe.

Thank you to all the kind souls who have helped me and my lovely neighbours who have dropped by to wish me luck.

Naming rights

Call me egotistical but I always assumed that if I went to all this effort in setting up a café, I’d be rewarded with naming rights as were Gustave Eiffel, Conrad Hilton and Donald Trump.

My business partners, however, had other ideas which is just as well as some other shelia with a sandwich bar beat me to it.


Instead, we are naming the café Lantana, a hardy, invasive, but beautiful weed that was introduced into Australia and has taken hold, becoming an iconic Australian plant - a “weed of national significance”.


The awning is up to announce that Lantana is now on British soil, ready to invade...in only a few days time.

Light at the end of the extractor

Nearly six weeks ago I bravely estimated that we'd be opening our doors to customers in six weeks time.

It may come as no surprise to anyone who has ever undertaken a building project that it is taking longer than planned. I can almost see Kevin McCloud stepping over piles of wood, looking at the leaking ceiling, shaking his head and saying "they are crazy if they think they will be opening on time".



We are getting closer though and I'm still optimistic that we will open next week - but maybe not Monday.

Hopefully very soon we'll have customers rather than builders enjoying the alfresco dining.

Scrambling Eggs: the interview