Cafe Luzon is located in North Lyneham and serves Filipino-inspired brunch. Photo: Lucy Ridge.
Opening in late January without fanfare, Cafe Luzon has taken over the space in North Lyneham formerly occupied by Hide and Seek, which closed in August. The Filipino fusion cafe is owned by the three friends who also run Northside Garden Cafe at Federation Square in Nicholls.
Managing director Lovelyn Natividad told Region that while Northside Cafe serves a menu of authentic Filipino dishes alongside a few Western favourites, Cafe Luzon has a more fusion focus.
“We wanted to do something different here, bringing the same Filipino love and serving the community, but not only Filipino food, and not straight brunch either,” Lovelyn said.
“We’d been looking for somewhere to open a second cafe for a while. Now that we’re established at our ‘mothership’ cafe [Northside Garden Cafe], we can trust our staff there to keep things going.”
Their tagline sums up Cafe Luzon: ‘Specialty coffee, Filipino-inspired treats and eats’.
Lovelyn Natividad owns Cafe Luzon with two longtime friends. Photo: Lucy Ridge.
The three friends in the business are Lovelyn, Clarisse Miranda, and head chef Michaella Sarmiento, who have been friends since they grew up together in the province of Luzon in the Philippines.
They became friends with Canberra chef Adrianne ‘Adi’ Davo, who also has a Filipino background, and often visited Northside on her days off from working in local restaurants. She told them to keep her in mind if they ever wanted to expand, and a few years later, they called her to run the Cafe Luzon kitchen.
Adi’s love of baking is evident throughout the menu, with pandesal as the base for many dishes.
“Pandesal is to Filipinos like what croissants are to the French,” Adi explained.
“We would have them every day; it’s a classic breakfast.”
Pandesal is a common breakfast food in The Philippines. Photo: Lucy Ridge.
These super soft buns aren’t as salty as the name suggests – it just means that a pinch of salt has been added to the dough, rather than sugar – and they are topped with breadcrumbs, adding a satisfying crispness to the crust.
I try them with a roasted capsicum and cheese spread (the recipe comes from Adi’s grandmother) and ube cream cheese. The warm bread is the perfect vehicle for these delicious spreads, and on Adi’s suggestion, I also try dipping the bread into my coffee. What can I say but ‘chef’s kiss’?
Other fusion items on the menu include a longganisa burger made with a traditionally spiced beef patty and French toast made with day-old pandesal, served with caramelised banana.
Chef Adrianne ‘Adi’ Davo has joined the team baking fresh ‘pandesal’. Photo: Lucy Ridge.
In the cake cabinet, there is an impressive ube cake and danishes inspired by an iconic Jollibee’s dessert, the Philippines’ answer to McDonald’s: mango peach pie.
Much of the success of Northside Garden Cafe has been down to Lovelyn’s passionate approach to hospitality, which she will also bring to Cafe Luzon.
“I believe that happy staff equals happy customers, so I have to take care of my staff, and then they can provide the best service. We’re really passionate about this industry, and we have so much respect for the customers.”
These passionate women have already made their mark on Canberra’s hospitality scene, so if they can bring that same flair and passion to this new venue, then Cafe Luzon is sure to be a success.
Cafe Luzon is located at North Lyneham Shops, 2 Colville St, Lyneham. They are open from 7 am to 2.30 pm on weekdays, and from 8 am to 2 pm on weekends. Follow Cafe Luzon on Instagram.
