Bayside

Cleverly named for its location on the corner, The Corner Store is not really a store at all, but a cafe cum restaurant that serves food. Which is lucky because obviously if it was a dress shop or a primary school I would have had a very challenging time indeed thinking of anything to say about the breakfast it serves.

I literally took my mother with me for a Friday morning at Olie & Ari. You know when you think going on a weekday will mean an opportunity for noiseless reflection? That doesn't happen in Brighton. The women have babies aplenty and they take them places. Like Olie & Ari, which struggles under the weight of all those diamond encrusted nappies.

I often drive along Beach Road between Mordialloc and Frankston, assuming that I will have many options for breakfast. I'm always so hopeful in the beginning: it's the beach! we're basically on the peninsula! there will be so many quaint cafes to choose from! Gents, it isn't true. There are hardly any. And the ones that do exist aren't on the beach, they face the road where there's no parking and a big ugly train.

Occasionally I go somewhere for breakfast and immediately feel more beautiful and more relaxed just for being there. Parlor Milk Bar & Kitchen is one such place, and not just because the name itself is so darling. It's a combination of, well, everything about it - the provincial decor, the perpetual smell of baking, the shuttered windows and the open fire. It's like going home to see your parents, if they were tasteful and elegant French people.

Highett is to Hampton as Carlton is to Brunswick: it's not quite as hip, but it's catching up fast. The Highett shops have long been a conglomeration of laundromats and tax agents, but these days they boast a couple of shimmering oases of food and activity. Blue Dish is one of those places.