Fifty-Six Threads Cafe @ Kensington, VIC – Cafe with a Mission

By On March 17, 2012 · 28 Comments · In Breakfast, By Cuisine, By Location, Food Reviews, Inner North-Western Suburbs, Kensington and Flemington

We often forget how lucky we are to have a roof over our heads, to be able to wake up early each day and go to work, socialise with our work mates, get paid and enjoy our employee benefits.

Instead, we sit and whinge about how much we hate Mondays (I for one do this every week), and how we can’t afford to buy the latest technology gadget, or how we can’t save enough to go for the holiday of our dreams.

I chastise myself on a daily basis every single time I think these thoughts and tell myself that there are people out there suffering worst fates than I. But as I’m only human, I do tend to fall down the selfish path every now and again, and think of “ME ME ME!”

Finding employment opportunities is hard enough in Australia with the current economic climate.

Finding employment is even harder, when you hardly speak the language and/or do not possess recognisable skills by the Australian Government in this country.

I’ve heard of foreign engineers with doctorate degrees who find it hard to even get by with any role as their qualifications aren’t transferable to our shores.

But work they must, and they need to survive to feed their families.

Which is how AMES (Adult Multicultural Education Services) a centre that provides programs and services to people of various cultures and speak a different language (native) to English, comes into the picture.

They assist new migrants into our beautiful country by helping them find employment, go through training and learn English (whilst they are at it).

Their new social enterprise (as they call it) Fifty-Six Threads Cafe, opened in November 2011 serving fresh food for breakfast, lunch and snacks to all from Wednesday to Sunday.

We finally found some time last weekend to visit this cute little cafe situated at the bottom of the high rise public housing units on Derby Street in Kensington.

When we arrived, there weren’t any other patrons, but we did see many people drop by for takeaway coffees and snacks.

I particularly loved the striking design of the use of wood which was featured prominently throughout the cafe. From hexagonal shaped tables, to fancy lights, to wooden panelling at the bar and counter.

We had a pretty good serve of Latte ($3.20). I was excited to find out that they use beans from the Social Roasting Company.

However, what was even more exciting was my breakfast!

I ordered the 56 Threads Breakfast ($14.00) – Smoked Salmon, Spinach, Avocado, Poached Eggs, Toasted Cheese Bread, Hollandaise Sauce, and I have to say, the poached eggs were pretty good.

I also loved the house-made cheese bread which was extremely fresh, and crumbly, almost like eating a brioche. It also contained mustard seeds, which I loved as it added a whole different dimension to plain ol’ bread. What I found really cute about the bread was that it was cut up for you like soldiers :)

Won’t you just look at that egg? Oozing with its golden syrupy goodness.

Egg heaven :)

The Boy had a pretty standard Big Breakfast ($14.00) – Poached Eggs, Bacon, Sausage, Garlic Mushrooms, Tomato, Spinach & Toasted Cheese Bread, and unfortunately his poached eggs weren’t as beautiful as mine, but was still decent.

The garlic mushrooms and sausage were the winners in his dish. We kept raving about them and wouldn’t let me have any ;P

I love the idea and concept of this cafe, and with their main objective to employ and train new migrants to Melbourne, only good things can come out of it :)

Give it a try and don’t let the location throw you off.

*Disclaimer: All food ratings & review are purely based on my own experiences and how I feel about the service, food and quality at the time of visit

Food/ Cuisine: Breakfast, Lunch, Coffee
Dining Style: Cafe
Overall Food Rating (Based on the Dining style): 7/10
Restaurant ambiance: 8/10
Service/ Attitude: 8/10
Value for money: 8.5/10

Opening Hours:
Wednesday to Sunday, Breakfast & Lunch (closes 3pm, depending on crowd)

Address:
56 Derby Street
Kensington VIC 3031

Tel: (03) 9376 6885

Website: http://www.fiftysixthreads.com.au/catering-at-ames

How to get there:

Fifty-Six Threads Cafe on Urbanspoon

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28 Responses to Fifty-Six Threads Cafe @ Kensington, VIC – Cafe with a Mission

  1. Chopinand @ ChopinandMysaucepan says:
    March 17, 2012 at 11:49 AM

    Dear I-Hua,

    The big breakky looks awesome. Everytime I order it, I hope and pray the yolk is nice and runny and not overdone..too precious to waste calories and cholesterol on overdone poached eggs.

    Reply
  2. Hannah says:
    March 17, 2012 at 2:45 PM

    The beginning of this post is everything that I work towards/fight against/advocate on behalf of every day at work. So glad to learn more of this place! There are a lot of issues with AMES, but social enterprises like this are such a strong move forward, if only they’re allowed to continue past the pilot stage.
    Hannah recently posted..Haigh’s Assorted Truffles… With A Side Of Crankypants

    Reply
    • Ms I-Hua says:
      March 17, 2012 at 7:57 PM

      Oh so good to hear. What sort of issues? Like management issues? Hmmm.. oh well.. at least they are doing something!

      Reply
  3. Peach Water says:
    March 17, 2012 at 3:16 PM

    WOW! This place looks amazing. But how far is kensington from CBD?!

    The cafe looks amazing though :)
    Peach Water recently posted..Little Mule

    Reply
    • Ms I-Hua says:
      March 17, 2012 at 7:58 PM

      It’s quite near.. about 7km? I think.. and possibly 3 stops from the cbd (depending on which way you’re headed)

      Reply
  4. carol says:
    March 17, 2012 at 3:29 PM

    just near where i live now :-) .. will drop by tomorrow or next weekend..
    carol recently posted..Nashi

    Reply
  5. Libby says:
    March 17, 2012 at 4:16 PM

    I love the concept, definitely sounds like it’s worth crossing to the other side of town for! That, and the cheese bread. Yum! :D
    Libby recently posted..Down To The (New)Market

    Reply
  6. Fatboo says:
    March 17, 2012 at 4:24 PM

    Hey, that’s pretty close to my workplace, and I like the concept of community support.
    Fatboo recently posted..Bad Blog ‘Relationship’

    Reply
  7. Lianne says:
    March 17, 2012 at 4:35 PM

    This is so near my place I need to head there to try soon! (: Thanks for sharing! Definitely a place with a good cause!
    Lianne recently posted..Mummy’s Claypot Rice

    Reply
  8. Michelle C says:
    March 17, 2012 at 6:26 PM

    methinks i should come here soon. :D
    Michelle C recently posted..Of Intentionality and Invisibility

    Reply
  9. Winston says:
    March 17, 2012 at 7:09 PM

    I-Hua… I really like places that do more than just serve good food. This place is really inspiring, and so is your friendly reminder for us to count our blessings at the start of the post. And DROOL WORTHY photos as always, ahhh!
    Winston recently posted..Mango Pudding Sorbet Recipe

    Reply
  10. Agnes says:
    March 18, 2012 at 12:16 PM

    Kensington is 5km from the CBD :p

    Will check it out soon – now that I know where it is!
    Agnes recently posted..Embrasse: MFWF express lunch

    Reply
  11. Cara @ Gourmet Chick says:
    March 19, 2012 at 9:02 AM

    That picture of the egg has me drooling on my keyboard!
    Cara @ Gourmet Chick recently posted..La Luna Bistro

    Reply
  12. Nic@diningwithastud says:
    March 19, 2012 at 11:49 AM

    Oozey egg food porn FTW :D
    Nic@diningwithastud recently posted..Bill’s – Darlinghurst

    Reply
  13. Ashley says:
    March 19, 2012 at 5:18 PM

    Egg porn…omnomnom! Love the decor too, cute looking little place! Great cause too :)
    Ashley recently posted..Pinotta

    Reply
  14. Daisy@Nevertoosweet says:
    March 22, 2012 at 7:39 AM

    I totally agree with you I-Hua! It’s so hard to find a job and it’s nearly impossible when you can’t speak the language and when employers aren’t willing to employ you because you have a ‘strong’ accent :(

    I really like the concept of the cafe and before reading about your cafe trips to Kensington, I never knew there were so many in that area ~ Food here at Fifty-Six Threads looks great and how mean of Boy not to let you try the sausage and mushroom :P
    Daisy@Nevertoosweet recently posted..Next Stop – Pastry Gems

    Reply

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