Eugenius

This little Windsor gem is run by Eugene Shafir, a guy with an eye for design, and so much going on in his excitable head that he requires a café just to accommodate all his art and food focused ideas. 

Like Juddy Roller and Grizzly Espresso in Fitzroy, Eugenius (Eugene plus genius, in case you're wondering) is a collection of everything that Shafir loves, resulting in a café with a distinct personality – his, to be exact.

Graffiti covers the surrounding alley ways, an impressive collection of artworks and his own book (Harvey Schmidlap Seeks the Perfect Cheesecake) lay within, and in terms of product, Shafir blends his own teas, brews his own award-winning chilli sauce and makes a hot chocolate that is essentially liquified Lindt. Each day, he takes a poll to rank the Middle Eastern/Asian inspired wraps and flatbreads (the spicy meatball number stacked with chilli, pickles, cheddar and herbs has been holding top-spot for a while now) and makes the next day's selection based on the results. Come after 5pm on a Thursday or Friday and you can even get involved in some Grey Goose Martinis and tapas.

This is an interactive café experience that stands as a testament to throwing caution to the wind and doing as you damn well feel. As long as you have good taste, it turns out it's a risk worth taking.