After an image of Rustica's communal toaster was published on social media site Reddit, the cafe attracted much flak from exacerbated hipster-haters. "Melbourne has achieved peak hipster. At this cafe in Fitzroy you have to toast your own bread," one person wrote. "And I bet you have to pay more for the 'experience'. What next? You start paying cafes to do their work?" wrote another. This is not at all true, the cafe's owner told this reporter. Rustica does serve toast, toasted by a waiter, and that is what most people order.

You can also buy a loaf of bread which is made on site, and toast it yourself if you would like. The toaster has been sitting there for years. “It means you can have it however you like it,” says waitress Lucy Wiseman. “Lightly toasted or burnt to a crisp.” I go to Rustica on Monday, and sit by the little toaster for several hours. I order the "toast-your-own" and receive whole loaf of sourdough. I slice off a hunk and feed it to the gleaming white Smeg toaster. I toast it until it is a perfect shade of golden brown and I spread an ideal amount of butter and raspberry jam on top. It's delicious.

Then, you wait. Credit:Joe Armao It's surprising there aren’t more cafes offering this service. There are a thousand different shades of toast, but customers are rarely asked, "Would you like your toast rare, medium or well done?" Know a person’s preference for toast and you know a lot about them. Underdone? Probably a vegetarian. Ashen black? Masochist. "My sister, she barely toasts hers, it’s still cold in the middle," says Ms Wiseman. "She doesn’t know whether she wants toast or bread. She’s an indecisive person."

Is it done yet? Credit:Joe Armao Rustica supplies several spreads: vegemite, peanut butter, jam. "I see people just cover their bread thick in black vegemite. I think they must be nihilists," says Ms Wiseman. "My mate, he toasts his bread – and then lets it go cold. Before buttering it! Why would you do that?" says cafe manager Drew Gibbs. "He’s a weird guy." Yum! Time to eat. Credit:Joe Armao

But there are dangers to letting patrons toast their own, says Jarrod Hack, co-owner of Woodfrog Bakery in St Kilda. Woodfrog has been allowing patrons to toast their own bread for many years. "We were told we were going to get sued," he says. "A man must have flicked up the handle on the toaster, which flicked up the toast, which flew into his soup bowl, and splashed some soup onto his arm. He was enraged. These are the dangers of letting customers toast their own toast." There is another big advantage to toast-your-own: it's cheaper. Loaves at Rustica start at $6.50. If you instead order toast off the menu, it will cost you $8 – and you only get three slices!

Still, "the amount of times I’ve offered that to people and they just ask for the toast – you don’t want to be carrying around a big bag of bread to work," says Mr Gibbs.