Native Cafe

A humble hole-in-the-wall coffee shop with a big heart, Native Café serves a growing clientele five days a week. The focus here is on healthy vegan kai and keeping things local, while still catering for all dietary needs and preferences.

Native boasts two menus (vegan and non-vegan), along with a cabinet stacked with all your favourites from sausage rolls to fresh salads and raw sweet treats to scones. The go-tos here are no doubt the house-made hearty bowls such as the Yeah Bowl (filled with grains, veggies, ferments and tofu) or the Ancient Grain Chai Porridge (with granola, fresh fruit and snippets of raw slice).

On the ground floor of a corporate building in the heart of Sydenham, Native Cafe turns an unexpected space into an inviting, warm environment. This is where locals can enjoy healthy food and a great coffee, and business peeps can run meetings in an informal setting. It’s a ground-floor-kiosk kind of vibe, but the kind that makes you want to linger and listen to the lo-fi tunes over a great cup of joe.

Owner-operator Natalie Hindson has a background working with social enterprises and her business is naturally that way inclined. Supporting other local businesses is a given, with everything used at Native sourced as close to home as possible. Tight relationships with suppliers and co-existing with nearby hospitality spots is all part of it. Natalie uses pickles by The Fermentist across the road (and even pinches herbs from its edible garden from time to time), sources vegan meats from Grater Goods around the corner and organic produce from local Spring Collective.

Natalie has a knack with raw slices and cakes, and produces a range for wholesale on a daily basis. She also runs collaboration events around the city, sells her goodies at varying markets and plans to operate pop-up Saturdays at Native Cafe in the near future.