Dumbo

After moving from Daylesford to Melbourne, Liam Thornycroft and his partner Dan Condon found a former milk bar left unused for more than 20 years in West Footscray.

The name of the cafe they opened in its place in mid-2016 isn’t a reference to the cartoon baby elephant. It’s a nod to DUMBO, a tiny, fashionable New York neighbourhood named for its location Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass. Fittingly the cafe is in a suburb with its own attempt at an acronym (albeit less catchy): WeFo.

Dumbo not only serves brunch and coffee but bread, milk, fresh flowers and old-school treats such as coconut ice. There are also ricotta doughnuts served with banana, custard and rhubarb. Pastries are from Seddon’s Sourdough Kitchen and coffee is by local roaster Rosso Roasting Co.

The team provides neighbouring West Footscray Primary School with compost in the form of food scraps and coffee grounds. In exchange it uses the school’s car park on weekends.

If you can’t get a seat there’s always the takeaway window where you can opt for one of the lunchbox options that change daily.