Brewtown Newtown

If there’s one space we can forgive for replacing a bookstore, it’s a coffee house. And one as exciting as Brewtown Newtown, a wonderful new concept café located in O’Connell Street, Newtown.

Established by Charles Cameron and Simon Triggs – who met while working as managers of Toby’s Estate – Brewtown serves up speciality coffees and delicious meals, plus a dose of exceptional treats, every day.

The café, which opened only a few short weeks ago, was inspired by the owners’ realisation that fine dining in Sydney was slowly being superseded by concept cafes with carefully put-together menus, simple seasonal ingredients, and atmospheres that supported catch-ups over great food and great coffee.

Cameron and Triggs were very involved in the overall look of the venue – spending some four to six weeks choosing finishes and furnishings in line with the building’s early 20^th century heritage, sourcing fixtures and furniture from all over Australia to complete their look. With asthetics inspired by Duke’s in Melbourne and Stumptown in the US (something that editor Viola said as soon as she walked into the venue pre-write-up), Brewtown Newtown is café meets bistro meets old school general store, thanks to the creative marketplace on the upper lever where local artists sell their work in a light filled open space.

‘The building has been a great canvas,’ Cameron says. ‘You have to get all the elements right, and we didn’t want to spread ourselves too thin by doing a café on both levels.’

Indeed, plenty of thought and care has gone into this venture. The owners consciously decided to avoid any bottled drinks to minimise their carbon footprint, all their produce is fresh and their meat is free-range. Treats are made in-house every day – and their cronuts especially are amazing.

‘We wanted to establish a destination for specialty coffee and retail hub with a competitive price point, featuring products that were artisan, handmade and affordable,’ Branson says, adding that the objective was to be ‘a great neighbourhood café’ that services the community.

The seasonal menu serves up modern dishes like corned beef hash for breakfast and staples like fresh pasta or fish and chips for lunch. And with café blends with creative names like Metropolis, Casablanca and Foxtrot, you know you’re in for something that was made for you with both thought and exceptional taste in mind.