Plants might be the first thing you notice when you step inside Hudson Botanical Café. Lush green fiddle-leaf figs, philodendrons, and snake plants—all for sale—set a welcoming green backdrop that ties into the café’s fresh approach.
That’s because, quite simply, the menu is unlike anything else you’ll find in Lancaster County—or even central Pennsylvania. Owners Madeline and Brent Hudson—transplants originally from the east coast of Australia—infuse the menu with flavors brought halfway around the globe to their cozy café in Smoketown, just east of Lancaster.
“We saw an opportunity in the market—we always thought Lancaster could do with some Aussie hospitality,” says Madeline, 31.
What exactly is Aussie hospitality?
“We’re like an elevated fast-casual, all-day brunch restaurant,” explains Brent, 36. The question was, “How adventurous do people want to be? We wanted to be approachable but also unique.”
Australian cuisine, Madeline explains, is influenced by its immigrants—hailing from the Middle East, Mediterranean, and southeast Asia. And those are the culinary influences you’ll find deliciously woven into Hudson Botanical Café’s menu.
From the Asian-inspired vermicelli salad to Thai red curry, Papi Chulo's Especial Burrito Bowl, and a beautifully colorful falafel bowl, every dish looks picture-perfect. And although they’re beautiful to the eye, each dish includes complex yet fun flavors to tickle your taste buds.
Carmel apple French toast, for example, is topped and encircled with caramel sauce (dulce de leche) and maple syrup, topped with a mini-slice of New York-style cheesecake, sprinkles of apple crisp, and streusel crumble. It’s somehow sophisticated, yet playful—and just plain yummy, all at once.
“Australians do coffee really well,” says Brent. “We tend to roast things a bit lighter—more caramelly, more chocolatey.”
If you’re looking for typical brunch staples like eggs benedict or scrambled eggs, you won’t find them. But you will discover the popular pulled pork bennie, and chili shrimp chao dan—Asian-style scrambled eggs served on sourdough with Chinese sausage, scallions and Gulf shrimp.
“Toast”—a simple heading on the menu—is transformed. I tried the Millennial Favorite—sourdough toast topped with smashed avo, marinated feta, pickled pink onions (the star of the dish for me), sweet and crunchy pea and sunflower shoots, watermelon radish, pepitas, and a fresh burst of lime—all combined in harmony.
Every dish is like a marriage of flavors and cultures, including Lancaster County’s renowned produce. And like a good marriage itself, the restaurant showcases both Madeline and Brent’s talents. She sources the plants and “thrives” on building relationships with local farmers, while his culinary skills shine in the kitchen and on the menu.
“All’s I ever done was cook,” Brent says with an Australian twang, “My mother was a chef, my father was a chef…my grandmother was a chef. Basically, I came from a line of cooks and chefs, so I didn’t know any better.”
Brent worked his way up the ladder in Australia, starting at the bottom rung as a dishwasher, and becoming an executive chef by age 24.
So how did this Australian couple land in the U.S., much less the Susquehanna Valley?
“It’s a fun story,” Madeline begins. “Brent and I first visited Lancaster County in 2015. We were super young—we took a year off from both of our jobs in Australia and traveled the entirety of the U.S.”
Along the way, Brent worked under several chefs in L.A., but the couple wasn’t prepared for what happened in PA.
“We ended up falling in love with Lancaster County,” Madeline continues. “We were supposed to stay a few days, but we ended up staying 12 months and found jobs at a farmer’s market.”
The couple laughs while describing their Airbnb—an Amish barn with no electricity, powered by a diesel generator, gas lights, and lanterns.
Next, they moved back to Australia, got married, even bought a house, and then “almost immediately,” Brent landed a dream job working for an Australian hospitality group opening several New York City restaurants. The Hudsons bounced back across the ocean to the U.S., landing in the Big Apple for four years.
But Lancaster County was still calling their name. In 2021, ready to transplant their roots once again, the couple moved back to Lancaster and opened Hudson Botanical Café. They’re already dreaming of expanding to additional locations.
Brent summarizes it all, in true adventurous Australian spirit: “We thought we may as well give it a go.”
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Hudson Botanical Café
2433 Old Philadelphia Pike, Smoketown, PA 17576 | hudsonbotanical.com
