One For The Crow

The Verdict

There aren’t many places in town where you can get vegan banana waffles and a potted cactus on the same bill. One For The Crow is one of them.

Crow is a new plant-based cafe and boutique nursery in Maidstone (Google Maps if you’re mentally struggling with that one). The legends in charge are Taze Brodel and Stephanie Johnson, a vegan couple who wanted to combine their love of plants with their love of good brekky. Stephanie is the qualified horticulturalist, Taze handles the espresso machine. 

One For The Crow is all about making veganism approachable again. A few classic cafe meals, and some “kill proof plants” to pick up on our way out the door (challenge accepted, guys).

The menu is full of hunky vegan studs. Soba noodle bowls with green veggies, tahini-miso dressing (err, yum!), pickled daikon and carrot kimchi. Big Breakfasts, hold the sausage—think tempeh bacon, smoky scrambled tofu, oven-baked beans and mushrooms instead. They even have vegan waffles with housemade vegan Nutella, caramelised banana, soy ice-cream and proper Maple Syrup (this one’s our personal fave).

Alongside the brekky menu, you can grab some vegan goodies from the cabinet like cruelty-free cakes, doughnuts, pies, sausage rolls and bagels. All whipped up using ingredients from local suppliers.

Up front you’ll find the nursery space—a cute display, stocked with succulents great and small, vintage and upcycled pots (you can pick up 5 for a cheeky $20), plus a solid range of hanging pants. Stephanie is always on-hand to chat about green-thumb issues like water drainage, sunlight, and why your plants keep abandoning you.  

A solid addition to Melbourne’s cafe scene. Vegans and nature-friends, get on it pronto. 

Image credit: Matt Dunne