Before returning to his hometown to open up Penny Coffee Co, Geoff Grundy was cutting his teeth in the Melbourne coffee scene – managing cafes and working with the big names in specialty roasts. When the urge struck to open a cafe of his own, Geoff took everything he had learned down south and focused it into what has shaped up to be a considered and impressive Dutton Park noshery. Geoff found his dream location ­– an freshly renovated building that once housed a photo-developing studio on Annerley Road – and enlisted Clui Design to install a fashionably minimalist but welcoming fit-out inside, and local artist Shani Finch to create an eye-catching mural on the building’s north-facing exterior wall.

The hyper-competitive nature of Melbourne’s coffee scene has instilled in Geoff a desire to ensure that Penny Coffee Co excels in both food and coffee. The all-day breakfast menu is seasonal with a focus on modern Australian eats and local flora. Currently diners can enjoy the likes of miso scrambled eggs with salt-baked salmon and cucumber salad, confit mushrooms with pumpkin hummus and grilled haloumi, and French Toast with cinnamon brioche, poached stone fruit and malted honeycomb ice-cream. Geoff has also ensured that the coffee selection is approachable and consistent, choosing Parallel Roasters for its house blend and a rotating option for its single origin and batch brew.

Penny Coffee Co is now open. Get all the extra details you need in the Stumble Guide.