A masterclass in doing the little things right, this joyous avo toast is just one reason this breezy cafe deserves a place on your summer hit-list.
Modern Australian$
I spy, with my little eye, a lot of Aje, PE Nation and other homegrown athleisure in the cafe I’m sitting in.
Footwear choices range from sandy thongs and safety boots to Uggies. Some tables look like a scene straight out of Real Housewives of Mosman Park; at others, laptop warriors stare at screens with the laser-like focus of someone trying to snag a table during one of Marumo’s seasonal ticket releases. Outside, white Land Rovers. White Land Rovers everywhere. It is a scene, to quote my friend, that looks “very Perth”.
Yet the setting for today’s review isn’t Perth, but Dunsborough – the popular southwest beach town whose fulltime population of 6413 balloons over summer and the holidays. As a blow-in myself, it’s hard to tell who are the locals and who are the Perth folks – both camps, of course, aren’t mutually exclusive – but I can confidently write that everyone is in Dunsborough for the same reasons. To get away. To get to the beach. And to get to Sora.
If you were zipping down Geographe Bay Road and not paying attention, this breezy 60-seat cafe would be easy to miss, such is the seamless way in which its graceful curves and neutral palette mesh with the rest of the luxury apartment development it resides in. Inside, stone, timber and Venetian plaster have been deployed by interior designer Leah Pisconeri to (re)emphasise Sora’s coastal setting. Like the clientele and perky staff, the space fits the description for good-looking.
The driving force behind Sora are Noelle Cardiel and Daniel Lim. She’s a former taco truck operator turned barista. He’s the chef. Both relocated from Perth to Dunsborough to open Sora last June. While I wouldn’t be so patronising as to wheel out the lazy city-slickers-bring-new-energy-to- country-WA cliche – places such as Yarri and The Food Farmacy have helped the people of the 6281 eat well, as has Merchant & Maker, the popular cafe owned by Anna and Steve Momsen who are also partners in Sora – and team Sora aren’t afraid to do brunch their way.
Lim, for instance, hails from Kuala Lumpur. So when he went looking for inspiration for a green XO sauce to enliven creamy, gently rippled scrambled eggs, he only had to look as far as the ginger and spring onion condiment served with the chicken rice found across Malaysia and the Nusantara region. House-baked egg tarts fuse elements of the specimens found in Portugal, Macau and dim sum trolleys everywhere to create a dense, custardy joy that eschews lemon or cinnamon in lieu of a deeply eggy richness.
Naturally, there’s some Japanese DNA in Sora’s genetics, from matcha drinks and the otaku-esque quality of its coffee retail offering to a neat (vegetarian) tonkatsu sauce variant of those eggs. There’s also a Japanese-ish quality to a nourishing breakfast rice bowl accessorised with silken tofu, pickles and fermented veg: more proof that eating your greens needn’t be boring.
And because Lim counts Arrival Hall and Community Coffee Co as previous workplaces, his interpretations of the classics are sharp. He uses a lightly spiced seed dukkah, crumbled feta plus a razor-sharp knife to make “simple avocado toast” anything but, while cinnamon buns, croissants and other pastries are baked in-situ. (The viennoiserie, however, is made with purchased laminated dough: such is life when operating out of such a compact kitchen.)
Not that Sora would ever let a small footprint get in the way of thinking big. As well as seven-day trading and the occasional dinner service, working with southwest suppliers – its bacon and smallgoods are from The Farm House, plus The Garden Basket helps source local veg – further reinforces a commitment to looking after the neighbours, as does cycling through seasonal dishes to go with the classics. Sure, the menu includes many of cafe-kind’s greatest hits, but kitchen smarts ensure these usual suspects taste unusually good.
Oh, and the name? In Japanese, sora means heaven or sky: a reference, say Cardiel and Lim, to the openness and vivid coastal panoramas that helped lure them to Dunsborough. Equally compelling, for both them and us, was an opportunity to run a cafe according to their values and principles. If the first 18 months are anything to go by, the sky really is the limit for this ambitious, regional go-getter. An essential Dunsborough address.
The low-down
Atmosphere: a poised and graceful example of what a neighbourhood cafe could and should be
Go-to dishes: breakfast rice bowl, “simple avocado toast” (yes, really)
Drinks: coffee made with a single-origin Sumatran bean from Five Senses, plus rotating filter coffees and specialty tea and coffee beverages
Cost: about $55 for two people
Good Food reviews are booked anonymously and paid independently. A restaurant can’t pay for a review or inclusion in the Good Food Guide.
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Max Veenhuyzen is a journalist and photographer who has been writing about food, drink and travel for national and international publications for more than 20 years. He reviews restaurants for the Good Food Guide.
