Cafe Effe, Tecoma – The Age Good Food app listing
Where gelato and coffee collide.
Coffee master girlfriend, ice cream master boyfriend. A story as old as time? Maybe not, but it’s the recipe for a perfect cafe. (And a fabulous affogato!) Tecoma, a suburb on the outskirts of the Dandenongs, got everything it wanted when barista Peggy Xu and ice cream parlor Michael Dobson opened Cafe Effe on the high street at the end of 2025.
In the cupboard: sweet tarts and galettes, often made with items donated by locals, as well as cookies filled with things like macadamia, white chocolate, and roasted green tea hojicha. On the counter: freshly ground gelato, six containers full.
There might be chili-chai ice cream made with local Caravan Chai powder, and another ice cream made with the incredibly delicious Mount Zero arbequina olive oil. Kori Ice Cream alum Dobson is never short of inspiration, but the possibilities here are nearly endless, thanks to a flavor suggestion box full of community engagement that comes into play on a regular basis.
Ambient recordings line the walls, young families abound, Proud Mary coffee perfumes the air, and everything is interesting in this leafy corner of the world.
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Frank Sweet is the editor of The Age Good Food Guide 2026 and the former food and drink editor of Time Out Beijing.
