Bossy Boots Cafe Lays Claim to Best Take Home Food in Melbourne
Bossy Boots cafe is a revelation to The World Loves Melbourne (one of the best cafes in Melbourne), being super popular with Brighton locals and now fast growing in its gourmet take home food offerings. Bossy Boots café is the masterstroke of Melbourne chefs Ben Forehan and Rachael Browne who have taken their cooking talents working at notable Melbourne kitchens such as Stokehouse, Circa and Dench Bakers, and 10 years cooking to the rich and famous on super yachts, to create a unique foodie haven in Brighton. The World Loves Melbourne stopped by for lunch to check out the amazing large gourmet sausage rolls and delectable salads. Check out our Best Healthy Eating Cafes.
Bossy Boots café lays claim to the best take home food in Melbourne. Locals are flocking to the café each day to grab dinner or a meal to take home. We were amazed at how many locals visited in the couple of hours we were there on a weekday lunchtime. This is a unique foodie experience in Melbourne with few if any cafes as successful at providing such quality take home food options. Each day the kitchen team prepare 3-4 tasty curries, salads, pastas, Tuna and Sweetcorn patties, filled crepes, and a killer Eggplant parmigiana.
For time poor professionals Bossy Boots is the perfect destination to get an impressive dinner, desserts and gourmet treats. The display cabinet is spectacular with take home treats on display. You will find it hard to resist the choices.
In recent years Nonna Thomasina (known as Nellie) has graced the kitchen at Bossy Boots and delivers some of the best lasagne and cannelloni you’ll taste in Melbourne. Salads here are super popular including a Tuna Nicoise and Moroccan cous cous salad.
According to Ben, “We thank Brighton locals for their support over the last 7 years. We pride ourselves on the fact that everything is made in house from scratch. We want to deliver honest exceptional food to Melburnians with no short cuts.” Bossy Boots has 5 talented chefs working in their large kitchen, all with extensive experience.
Bossy Boots also has amazing eat in food with compelling breakfast and lunch options. These Corn fritters with smashed avocado, house made salsa and sour cream, with crispy bacon have been hugely popular, appearing on the specials blackboard. So rewarding. Credit for this image: Lisa Eats World.
Bossy Boots has a large local following and is known for its relaxed ambience with chic courtyard and large windows inviting bright spaces. Tables on iconic Bay Street are popular imbibing the local Brighton atmosphere.
During their time on the super yachts Ben and Rachael cooked for the rich and famous such as Cindy Crawford, Mel Gibson, Mike Tyson, and Paris Hilton. They also did all the catering for Pamela Anderson’s wedding when she married Kid Rock on a super yacht in St Tropez. Says Ben, “We have taken skills we learned on the super yachts into the Bossy Boots experience.”
Ben Forehan and Rachael Browne are classically trained having both studied Vienoisserie at E’cole Le Notre, in Paris, and have been able to bring their passion and skills to the café scene. They have control over the whole cooking process making everything from scratch. Ben takes care of the main kitchen while Rachael is in control of the separate pastry kitchen.
The menu is about fresh honest food, with a mix of brunch and lunch staples and a nod to Italian fare.
Check out these Bee Stings with brioche infused with custard. (We groaned on consumption.)
Bossy Boots also produce arguably the best vanilla slices in Melbourne...
Ben and Rachael are the master of pastries with Bossy Boots making their own Danish pastries, high end French cakes, and the best pies, quiche and sausage rolls in Melbourne. Around Easter Bossy Boots is also famous for its Hot Cross Buns, contender for best in Melbourne.
The breakfast menu features Homemade muesli, Vanilla Poached Pears, or for the hungry try Ben’s Big Breaky, with poached or fried eggs with bacon, baked beans, mushrooms and chipolatas. Check out the House made baked beans with crumbed feta on toast. Customers love the sides including Regal smoked salmon, Istra bacon and house made baked beans.
The World Loves Melbourne enjoyed this selection of large gourmet sausage roll and delectable salads. The sausage roll has a superb flaky pastry with full butter pastry, and quality mince and sausage. The relishes included the standard relish and the one with some kick. Both were made from scratch. The salads were exceptional, healthy, and interesting. Everything was high quality.
The sausage roll and salads were surprisingly filling, but I also enjoyed a large portion of Swiss Roll Pavlova.
Popular dishes on the lunch menu include Traditional lasagne, Eggplant parmigiana, Traditional Italian meatballs, Cannelloni of the day – all served with fresh tossed garden salad. Indulge also in Quiche of the day, Chicken Jalfrezi served with fragrant basmati rice, or the Butter chicken with rice.
Suppliers include some of Melbourne’s finest including T2 teas, Phoenix organic bottled juices, and Meredith goat’s cheese.
Coffee is from Supreme and served expertly from the large La Marzocco machine.
And where does the intriguing name come from?
Ben and Rachael shared a dream for opening a café/foodstore for years. While working on a super yacht called “Bossy Boots” Ben and Rachael travelled from San Diego through British Colombia and spent the summer in Alaska. This was a memorable trip and the couple decided to come home to further their dream.
Ben says, “Most of the time the conversation was about food, but one night the topic of the business name came up. We both had quite a few glasses of red, so neither of us can remember who first suggested “Bossy Boots.” We both thought it was kind of catchy and probably quite fitting for the suburb of Brighton.”
Bossy Boots is an iconic café with its own style, creating a convivial hub that is unique to Brighton and Melbourne.
