A community focused cafe with a sustainable & simply divine menu
You only have to take a left turn down Avoca Drive to be instantly hit with the ‘I am on holidays’ kinda feeling.
With its golden beaches, adjoining lake, that encourages all kinds of outdoorsy activities, and an eclectic café restaurant scene. Your biggest dilemma of the day will be where to get your morning coffee from. To help ease the caffeine headache make a beeline to Like Minds Avoca and experience something a little special.
Located just before the main Avoca strip, Like Minds is the work of Melissa Morgan and James Rolph who, since 2014, have been bringing to the area a community focused contemporary space. With quality coffee, a fresh and sustainable menu and art installations, which they source from local artists; they are such a breath of fresh air.
Whilst things may have changed a little from the early days Mel says,
“Our friends Adam and Lucy, who we originally set the business up with, have moved on to Sydney and with those guys being the creatives of the business we have changed the direction a little, but the energy of Like Minds is still there.
“When we first opened Like Minds it was all about the community and we wanted to set the café up so it was more like an extension of our home. At the time we felt the area lacked that community space, somewhere you could go to, sit down, have a coffee in and exchange in conversation.
“It took a while to get the business going, so in the beginning we had the time to interact and share stories. We learnt everyone's names and their kids' names, which really set the tone and energy.
“Things are a busier now especially with the locals, each week you see the same faces which we love, but we’ve also found a lot of our visitors are coming from Sydney and Newcastle. It’s kind of become a bit of a destination which is great.”
Whilst the space may only be small Like Minds has many layers that you may not see on first glance. Since opening the team have been working towards becoming a waste-free business and can proudly claim to compost all their food and coffee waste, with Mel saying,
“We literally have one red garbage bin of waste a week. We compost everything and work closely with our suppliers, who we have great relationships with, to cut down on as much packaging as possible. There is also a regular produce swap which I run along with about twenty locals and has become really popular."
In addition to their zero waste ethos Mel and Jimmy are all about the produce, that is sourcing everything they possibly can locally. Taking a step back from the business has allowed the couple to focus on what’s really important to them, that is creating their very own home grown vegies. In addition to the extensive vegie patch alongside Like Minds which contains all kinds of delicious herbs, spices, fruits and vegetables. Jimmy is currently learning the ropes and growing produce on an organic farm in Mangrove Mountain while Mel is studying herbal medicine.
And the food, what can we say other than it’s divine! Generous servings that are loaded with fresh and delicious flavours that leave you oh-so-full but still wanting more. Like Minds is a beautiful space and makes for the perfect catch up spot, just be prepared to lose a few hours here.