Oli & Levi

I challenge you to find one goddamn thing in this town you can eat for less than $2.00 that’s not the worst thing you’ve ever laid tongues on. And I just as quickly retract the challenge because I have found the solution: Oli & Levi, a new café right in the heart of the CBD that serves (along with Allpress coffee and big lunch baguettes) egg tarts for $1.50. You couldn’t buy an individual egg in this town for that price, let alone one baked in pastry and filled with sundried tomatoes and fetta.

Named after owner Lloyd Smith’s two dogs (Weimaraners who sometimes help out with the baking), Oli & Levi operates under the assumption that people – even those who work on Little Collins street – don’t need to spend a fortune to eat well.

The yellow awning is fluorescent on the outside but casts complexion-flattering colours on the interior, making Oli a good place for a blind date. Not that I’d recommend a daytime blind date, but with this decor it’s all starting to look a bit better. You can sit at the Tasmanian oak table, which must be the longest single piece of wood in the state. It used to function as a load-bearing beam at the old Channel 9 studios in Richmond, until it was picked up by Lloyd in exchange for a slab of beer. Just like you are being picked up right now.

Published by TheThousands, April 2012