Leonardo da Vinci once said, “simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” Cheerio café, which opened at the Swan Street end of Lennox Street last Thursday, is the perfect example of these wise words.

Cheerio is the first café of Charlotte Deverauxand and Chris Handley, but the pair are hardly foreign to the hospitality scene. Charlotte (look out for the pink, frilly apron) is fresh from a two-year stint at Seven Seeds, prior to which she worked at Batch Espresso. Chris came from Wall Two 80 and Coffee Supreme.

Cheerio serve Seven Seeds coffee and ours was as smooth as silk and as sweet as caramel. The simplicity theme carries over to the modest menu. Try the toasted “briont”, a hybrid baked good somewhere between a brioche and croissant, served in a tin with house made lemon curd and Jam Lady jam. If it’s eggs you’re after, it’s hard to go past the poached option with pancetta, winter greens and hollandaise sauce. There are four sandwich options for lunch. The bread comes from Brioche by Philip and each one will only set you back a blue note. The pan-fried haloumi with vine tomatoes, greens, gherkins and herb and lemon cream cheese was our first pick.

The petite, white-walled space adopts a minimalist design with a few quirky features, such as the geometric pattern on the floor, which has been hand painted to look like tiles. Low hanging porcelain lights are suspended above pale wooden tables and aqua green coffee saucers match the legs of the wooden stools. The banquette seating with the navy blue cushions is definitely the ‘comfy seat’, but you can also sit at the bar in the window and watch the world go by. Cheerio is expecting outdoor seating soon.

There is something undeniably joyful about this quaint café and it’s not just because of the name. Pop in and hang out with the Lennox Street locals… we’ll give you a back rub if you can walk out the door without saying, ‘Cheerio’!

Location: 323 Lennox Street, Richmond
Open: Mon-Sat 7am-4pm |Sun 8am-4pm
Email: cheeriocafe@gmail.com