Threefold, Food Store & Eatery

When I stumbled into the place fresh of the plane from Auckland, I stuck gold. The coffee is excellent. My short macchiato could not be faulted, likewise my wife’s flat white.
There are lots of great coffee places in Melbourne, and this is the only one we kept coming back to.
Great atmosphere, friendly staff. I’ll be back, as Arnie says.
If it has one fault it would be the window seats; the window sills dig in … but for coffee this good, I’ll put up with it.

Love the delicious sandwiches and coffee. This place doesn’t mess around, with great quality ingredients matched perfectly served with a friendly smile.

At Threefold they put spatchcock in sandwhiches. And have a counter filled with beautiful rustic bowls and plates overflowing with salads, pastries and cakes… umm, yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.
When I visited for the first time I wanted to throw myself at that counter headfirst — pointed at the bowl of beetroot and lentil salad. Instead, I restrained myself and ordered a mix of three salads (perhaps a little on the pricey side at $ 18) and sat there struggling to focus on the lunch time conversation as I made my way through a plate of three beautiful textured and diverse salads. The flavours in the farro and smokey eggplant still haunt me…
My companion had the aforementioned spatchcock sandwhich. At $ 12.50, this sturdy looking sanga and mini side salad was great value. Other items on the menu, including terrine, will have me coming back very soon.

When Threefold opened last year in the northern end of Flinders Lane, it filled a hole I didn’t realise was there: a decent (and licensed) eatery that was lighter on the sandwich and pastry side, yet wasn’t going to require a whole week’s pay check — or several hours — for one meal.
With herbs in a window box out the front, rough wooden shelves displaying bread, muffins and newspapers by the door, and preserves and wine artfully arranged on bookshelves and in crates under the counter, the café will feed and water you now while the food store baked goods and jams will tide you over for later (they make excellent chocolate and peanut butter muffins).
It’s a small place so you’ve got to time your run if you fancy lunch there, but they also do breakfast and on Thursday and Friday, dinner too.
Although you could linger over a duck leg confit with dates, roasted carrots and anise, or double smoked keiserfleisch with butter lettuce and smoked mozzarella on wholegrain sandwich, the menu is geared towards salads — but not the rabbit food dieters forsake real meals for, nor the kind hidden beneath gallons of dressing. Tasty, inventive, and colourful are the words that spring to mind.
Try the fetta, lentil and carrot salad, or break out with the jewelled couscous with pistachios, pomegranate, cherry tomatoes and roasted baby onion.
If you’re scared off by the dish names and fact that salad is a Threefold mainstay, fear not. All the food is displayed on the giant marble counter — so you know what you’re getting. The first couple of times I visited I was a bit worried that my meal would be stale after sitting out in the open café, but the high turnover and small amounts on show means it never is.
The list of wines, beers and cocktails (yes, cocktails!) is concise but high quality, the staff are lovely and attentive, and, most importantly, they know how to make a real flat white.