Mr Tulk

Ph: (03) 8660 5700; State Library of Victoria, 328 Swanston St, Melbourne 3000

cate, $ -
Open mon-Thu Yam-5pm: fri 7am-9pm: sat 9am-4pm; Licensed; AE DC BC MC V EFT

Other published opinions

The Age Cheap Eats 2008 "Named after the state's first librarian, Mr Tulk's book-crammed elegance is ideal for essay procrastinating"

The Age Dani Valent, 25-9-2006 "The cafe is on the Latrobe Street side of the library; you'll see the spacious north-facing terrace first. The large inside area - high ceilings, parquetry, Victorian grandeur - has an elevated dining room at one end and a copper-fronted servery at the other. The dining room is dominated by a communal table ringed with stools, and stacks of books and a peg-lettered menu board gesture towards the library location. There's room for a pram (easy access is via the library) and a few pairs of outstretched, shopped-out legs. Waiters dart around tables - it's racy, but the energy is eased by floods of natural light and an overall feeling of space."

The Age Cheap Eats 2007 "Food on library premises? What would first chief librarian Mr Tulk say? Perhaps his stern gaze would soften once he saw what the van Haandels have created in the State Library."

Age Epicure Unexplored Territory, Matt Preston, 21-11-06 "Of course, Mr Tulk's cruellest trick is to pretend it's really part of the library, with Dion Hall's design playing extensively on a reading room theme for an interior that encompasses huge, wall-mounted, anglepoise lamps and a central communal table with centrally mounted booklights, which make you feel as if spreading out the newspaper is really valuable study. Hall also consulted to Frank Van Haandel on the Hecker Phelan design of Comme, Van Haandel's other solo venture. Van Haandel's son, Peter, runs the floor with Michael Benko. The lads met at Il Fornaio and then later ran Cafe Veloce at Duttons together."