Mina-no-ie – Broadsheet Profile
Zenta and Megumi Tanaka, the duo behind much loved Collingwood cafe Cibi, have a second little sister venue aptly named Mina-no-ie (which is Japanese for ‘everyone’s home’).
Taking over a vacant warehouse Zenta further articulated the spaces lovely industrial bones with touches like blackened steel trestles that prop up recycled wine barrel boards reconfigured into beautifully textured tabletops. Running through the main spine of the cafe are two timber communal tables that are irreverently organic in their shape and soap-finished to provide their surface with a subtle off white hue.
This subtle textural interplay also extends to the choice of handmade porcelain cups, saucers and plates created in collaboration between the Cibi team and local potter Shane Kent, a dynamic that recasts the everyday act of drinking coffee as a wonderfully tactile experience. These cups, along with other beautifully considered everyday products, will be on sale at Cibi’s select store.
Megumi, the heart and soul of the space, has developed a concise menu offering the kind of heart-warming food that we have all come to enjoy at Cibi cafe. Harking back to the nourishing Japanese home-style food that she grew up with in rural Okayama, Megumi’s food philosophy at Mina-no-ie is as much about the notion of providing sustenance as it is about the balance of flavours. An ever-evolving food offering that relies on seasonality, organic produce and the environment that surrounds, the first menu consists of fresh, wholesome food.
Coupled with the green tea cakes and great coffee, Mina-no-ie is the perfect space for respite.
Mina-no-ie shares the space with curated men’s store Epatant.
Copyright 2012 Leon Goh & Broadsheet
Leon Goh 