Victoria Carey from Day Kitty cafe in Kepler St, Warrnambool, has been a strong supporter of Bluestone Magazine from day one and wants to encourage more people to subscribe so we can continue to highlight all of the many great things unfolding in the south-west.
Victoria is kindly donating a sensational organic fruit and vegie box prepared by Day Kitty and valued at $65 for us to give away to one lucky new yearly subscriber. You can read all about the Day Kitty branching into organic fresh food in our story here.
The next five new yearly subscribers will go in the draw, which means you have excellent odds!
To subscribe to Bluestone for a full 12 months for just $85, simply click below. And don’t forget all of the other great subscriber benefits including our loyalty card discounts and access to special subscriber only events.
W’bool wakes up and smells the coffee
Henry Bird has started his own small cafe, Rough Diamond, in a 1970s building that inspired the name.
Words and photos Carol Altmann
[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #DC943C;”] B [/dropcap]luestone took a short winter’s break recently and when we returned, we found not one, but two fabulous and funky new cafes had sprung up in Warrnambool.
Both – Graze, and Rough Diamond – have slotted in to what is fast becoming the most vibrant and interesting part of the CBD, around Kepler, Koroit and Fairy streets, where the historic shopfronts are being restored, long-empty buildings are slowly filling and, perhaps most importantly for small businesses, the rents are much cheaper than in the city centre.
This combination was irresistible to Henry Bird, a familiar face around the Warrnambool cafe scene since his early involvement in Brightbird Espresso (which also serves some of the best coffee in town), who together with his wife, Katherine, is behind Rough Diamond.
Henry and Katherine have gutted and refitted what was surely one of the most uninspiring buildings in Koroit St; a dark, 1970s, low-profile brick place opposite the former Warrnambool Standard building that has had many incarnations, most recently as a Coca Cola office.
Henry and Katherine Bird have brought their individual talents to their new cafe.
[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #DC943C;”] T [/dropcap]he Birds have give the building an entirely new look and feel with recycled timber furnishings (made by Port Fairy craftsman Jordan Small using timber salvaged from renovations on Henry and Katherine’s home), plenty of natural light pouring in, and a cute patio area with fake grass and milk crate tables.
“That’s where the name of the cafe from, actually, because this place was such a rough diamond,” Henry explains.
“It was perfect for us, though, because we wanted to be off Liebig St, not only because it is more affordable, but because of what is happening around Fairy St and Kepler St.
“There are a lot of people putting themselves out there and giving things a go, which is creating a whole new feel to this area.”
Such is Henry’s reputation for knowing what “works” with a cafe, Rough Diamond featured in The Age Good Food section just three days after opening, (you can read the review here), all of which adds to the sense that Warrnambool’s cafe culture is gathering cred.
Moria Aberline and Paul Riley have relocated back to Warrnambool from the UK to open Graze.
[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #DC943C;”] J [/dropcap]ust an espresso shot away from Rough Diamond is Graze, a combination cafe and gourmet deli that replaced the long-standing Lozzar’s in Kepler St.
“This is something we have wanted to do for a long time, to have our own business and to run our own cafe,” says owner Moira Aberline, who recently returned to Warrnambool after 10 years in the UK, where she met partner Paul Riley.
Both Moira and Paul worked in hospitality, with Paul a former chef’s consultant in several fine dining restaurants that were known for their “rosettes” as opposed to the “chef’s hat” system used in Australia.
Like so many other ex-pats of her generation, Moira felt the time was right to return home and the pair wasted no time in applying what they had learnt overseas to Warrnambool. The completely remodelled cafe is both cosy and modern and, even on a mid-Winter’s day, busy.
“It has been fabulous: we have been really overwhelmed by the support we have received and to be part of the buzz that is happening around here,” Moira said.
Day Kitty remains one of the most popular cafes in the Kepler St strip, with Victoria Carey, left and Rebekah Conheady keeping the coffee flowing.
[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #DC943C;”] A [/dropcap] lot of that buzz can be traced to Day Kitty, right next door to Graze, which about 18 months ago moved into the tired shop once occupied by Flaherty’s chocolates and turned it into a gorgeous space of marine ply and white tile.
The purely organic focus of the cafe became its very appealing point of difference and owner Victoria Carey is in the process of taking that one step further by offering organic groceries and fresh food.
With the pioneering Wyton’s across the road and Bohemia, another early arrival, a little further along toward the highway, Kepler St is barely recognisable from the days when pretty much the only cafe on offer was the quaint Kepler Kettle.
“Oh, I used to love the Kepler Kettle! It was just gorgeous,” Moira says with a laugh.
Now, however, it’s the espresso machines that are giving Kepler St and its surrounds a full head of steam.
[button link=”http://the-terrier.com.au/subscribe-2/” type=”icon” icon=”people” newwindow=”yes”] Become a Bluestone supporter by subscribing here.[/button]
Sisters Victoria (front) and Elizabeth Carey are the smiling faces behind the wonderfully named Day Kitty cafe in the former Flaherty’s Chocolate Shop, Warrnambool.
[dropcap style=”color: #a5cecd;”] A [/dropcap]mid all the gloom of shops closing in Warrnambool, the city’s burgeoning cafe scene is stepping up to the plate to show how funky places can not only survive, but thrive.
The wonderfully named Day Kitty cafe is among the newcomers, having taken over the former – and famous – Flaherty’s Chocolate Shop building in Kepler St, right next door to the Capitol Cinema.
Since opening six months ago, the cafe with a striking black-and-white decor has carved out a niche market with its emphasis on organic that includes home-made, artisan milkshakes and icecreams, fresh-pressed juices, light meals, salads and hot drinks.
It is like a soda fountain, meets a coffee shop, meets a gourmet salad-and-juice bar – and it works.
The sisters (Victoria in the middle, Elizabeth, right) were always close and have ended up working side by side after initial careers as scientists. They are pictured here with their eldest sister, Anastasia.
[dropcap style=”color: #a5cecd;”] W [/dropcap]arrnambool sisters Victoria and Elizabeth Carey are behind the venture, although Elizabeth insists she is simply “helping out” Victoria, who created the dream and has pulled all of the pieces together.
Both are former scientists who, after 10 years in their respective fields (the sisters were born two years apart), decided they wanted to do something completely different with their lives.
Victoria worked in dairying manufacturing at Murray Goulburn, in Koroit, where she gained all of the experience necessary to break out into making artisan icecreams that would use only organic ingredients.
The waffle cones, which are hand-made by Elizabeth, use the egg whites leftover from the icecream.
The cafe’s icecream and milkshake bar harks back to the hey-day of Flaherty’s, who were known not only for their extraordinary array of chocolates – particularly at Easter – but for the entire Flaherty family each taking a turn at serving icecreams and milkshakes to cinema goers.
“I knew exactly the sort of cafe I wanted to have, and I knew it had to be here, in this building,” Victoria says.
“We have had different members of the Flaherty family drop in to see how it looks, and that has been really lovely,” she adds.
Victoria hand-makes all of the icecreams, using only organic ingredients, while Elizabeth makes the waffle cones using the leftover egg whites.
[dropcap style=”color: #a5cecd;”] B [/dropcap]efore joining her big sister at Day Kitty, Elizabeth specialised in the remediation of contaminated land so it is not surprising that she, too, has a strong commitment to sustainability.
“We try and recycle and reuse as much as we can. Our food scraps are composted and all of the cardboard is taken away and recycled,” she explains.
Even the cutlery and drinking straws are made from recycled bamboo – rather than plastic – although it did take a bit of trial and error to find the right straws.
“We started with some paper ones, but they fell apart before the drink was finished,” Victoria says, laughing.
Day Kitty is now “about 95 per cent organic”, according to Victoria, with a particular style of coffee bean proving to be the final, 5 per cent hurdle.
As for the name, it was chosen simply because it sounded good and is easy to remember.
“It was going to be Day Kitty-Night Owl, because we had planned to eventually open in the evening and offer cheese platters with a nice glass of wine,” Victoria says.
That may still happen, but for now the pair is happy to keep growing the business during daylight hours. The next chapter is about to unfold, with the hiring of a chef so that they can expand their lunch and breakfast menu.
“One day I would really like to also run an organic fruit and vege store, but that is a little further down the track,” Victoria says.
These vintage scoops were found in secondhand stores around Warrnambool and may have even been used by Flaherty’s….who knows?
[box type=”bio”] Day Kitty, 53 Kepler St, Warrnambool is open Mon to Fri 8.30 to 5.30 and Sat 9-5. Ph: 5561 6921[/box]
[button link=”http://the-terrier.com.au/subscribe-2/” type=”icon” icon=”heart” newwindow=”yes”] Did you enjoy this story? Please subscribe here to help Bluestone thrive.[/button]
You might also enjoy these cafes…
Read about other great cafes in our area…