The Breakfast Club

Where:

The Breakfast Club
206 St Georges Rd
Northcote, 3070
0450 581 494

When: Tues-Fri 7.30am-3.30pm, Sat-Sun 9.30am-3.30pm

Those who know me, know of my unhealthy obsession with John Hughes’ The Breakfast Club.

As teenagers, my friends and I invested hours trying to copy Molly Ringwald’s dance moves and ‘ooohing’ and ‘ahhing’ over bad boy John Bender, played by then (inconceivably, because to be honest, age has not been a kind mistress to poor Judd) to-die-for-cute Judd Nelson. There was his unkempt hair, his penchant for bandanas, ripped denim, trench coats, and, most importantly, his in-your-face ‘tude: “But face it. You’re a neo maxi zoom dweebie. What would you be doing if you weren’t out making yourself a better citizen?”

You cannot begin to imagine my disappointment then that the only homage paid to this should-be-immortalised-cinematic-classic, were a few token references located in the menu. There’s the Emilio Molette (spicey beans, goat’s cheese and herbs in a hollowed out baguette); the Sheedy Toasts (simple sour dough toasts with a choice of spreads) and the Ringwald (quince paste and brie melt with basil on sourdough).

I’d heard the service here was rigid and unfriendly, but this wasn’t our experience at all. We did find them rather “absent’, but in the way that counter-order establishments tend to be. Communal tables and scrubbed seating pews meant we were privy to the conversation of the blue and fuchsia haired, grungy leather jacket wearing, tweenies sitting opposite us, and their rehashing of the previous night’s exploits at a live band venue made us grateful we’d left that life behind some time ago.

Adding to the quirkiness are the options of Coco Pops served with milk, and the Bananarama – banana, cream cheese, cinnamon, Nutella and honey on toast. I’m tempted. But not as tempted as I am by the Baked Red Eggs nestled in layers of spinach, halved tomatoes, finished off with a crumbled soft cheese and served with a tomato and avocado salsa. Even the chalkboard rabbit proclaims this House Special to be “Wow!”, and when it arrives, I have to agree.

As John Bender would say, “This is a very nutritious lunch. All the food groups are represented.”