Orange

Melbourne’s famous Chapel Street spans the suburbs and genres, from chi-chi South Yarra to gay mecca Prahran all the way to the designer grunge, thrift stores and new gourmet of Windsor, which is exactly and aptly where you’ll find Orange Cafe.

Saddle up at this stylishly worn enclave and as you watch the GQ-with a-wasted-elegance   waiters serve washed up rock stars their coffee and all-day breakfast, you’ll begin to hook into the Windsor groove: the hopeful new alongside the used and elegantly shabby. Grab an on-street table and a Bloody Mary if you’re paparazzi-ready, or ditch the paps in favour of a classic soul soundtrack, a cozy indoor nook and the fixed-price lunch. Dishes rock a modern Italian bent, keeping it light on the palate, and the waiters have a sixth sense for recommending the best accompanying drinks.

Tattoos are obligatory in this area – in fact there’s probably more clingwrap swathing the tender new inkings of the outdoor patrons than there is on the food in the warp-speed kitchen that has been nourishing the locals for a number of years now. Still mostly free of multinational chain stores, Windsor’s identity is as idiosyncratically marked out as the arms of the lunching Bon Scott wannabe drinking his Sav Blanc outside Orange.

All the other cafe owners in this area must have a love-hate relationship with Orange. Hate because it draws in such a crowd, but Love for the same reason - because they also must benefit from the overflow when it gets crowded.

There's so many reasons for it's success. The comfy and cool seating on the pavement, the eclectic tasty menu, the killer coffee, the boho decor and vibe, the beautiful serving staff... It does this all so effortlessly that it seems so easy, but it takes more than just a lot of moons aligned to get this right. The place works hard to make this seem easy and despite how popular it gets, they never stop trying.

And it's around the clock. Brekkie is great, but there's a super social vibe on a balmy evening.