Cafe Mint was the brainchild of two brilliant (or at least, sporadically creative) minds:
Alyssa Rousseau
Alyssa completed her pâtisserie training in Paris during her gap year, returning to Melbourne with a head full of ideas and itchy fingers just waiting to craft scores of baked and beautifully-decorated goodies.
She founded her own bakery in 2012, but found that the experience just didn’t feel right without a combination of really amazing coffee and a place to sit down and enjoy it. Cafe Mint was born out of a late-night planning session with her close friend and fellow chef Melanie (boosted by an exquisite bottle of moët and some imported brie), and the rest was history.
Alyssa is undaunted by the challenge of combining elegant dining with cafe relaxation, and looks forward to providing patrons with her signature durian eclairs (and many other treats!).
Alyssa lives in Camberwell with her husband René and their two dogs, Voltaire and Rimbaud.
Melanie Varrell
Melanie became head of the Melbourne Women’s Barista League at the age of eighteen, the youngest person to ever hold the position. After winning multiple awards from prestigious coffee organisations, she completed her chef’s training in Switzerland before returning to Melbourne and taking up freelance work as a coffee consultant. It was during this period that Melanie and Alyssa met and became friends, after which the concept of Cafe Mint was born.
Melanie is immensely proud to bring both a sumptuous range of international dishes and an exquisite coffee experience to Cafe Mint.
At the current time, Melanie lives in Ringwood with her grandmother and several cats. She enjoys calisthenics and is currently trying her hand at chocolate-making, to mixed results.
Nathaniel Delaware
Nate is the office wizard who works tirelessly behind the scenes on all of Cafe Mint’s finances, paperwork, taxes and everything else that needs to get done while the other folks are making magic in the kitchen.
By his own admission, Nate is more of a tea person than a coffee guy, although he’s passionate about food photography and does an amazing job keeping Cafe Mint’s social media page buzzing with his sumptuous shots.
He might do his best work at a desk rather than a kitchen bench, but we’re thrilled to have Nate and his brilliant mind on board!
Javier Castello
Our latest and greatest acquisition, Javier is no ordinary chef. Not only does he come into work every day with a smile that never seems to vanish, but he’s also won a truckload of awards for his various cooking exploits – not that he’ll ever tell you!
Javier brings a host of new flavours and home-cooked goodness to the kitchens of Cafe Mint, but also a warmth and passion that we can’t believe we ever lived without.