There’s something in the water in Alexandria. One by one, disused warehouses are being converted into cafes and bars. Sympathetic renovations abound – think Allpress Espresso, Kitchen by Mike, Don Campos, Bread and Circus or Sonomo HQ. Further afield you’ve got the likes of Brasserie Bread and Freda’s Bar and Canteen taking up residence. Add The Grounds to the list of cavernous and ultra modern spaces slightly off the beaten path of the inner southwest.
The Grounds is situated on the corner of Huntley street and Bourke Road. It’s is in the same ‘complex’ as 4143 at The James Barnes. It felt like this place would never open, but open it did for the first time yesterday, so this morning I went to check it out.
When we arrive, I count ten staff. We order our coffees and are told since we’re having them in, to take a seat and then order. The coffee takes a while, which is odd considering the gaggle of waiters clustered around the till and the small number of customers. To be fair, we did arrive at 7:15am on their second day of trade, and I know from experience that a POS system can be a pain in the arse to get going. When it arrives, the coffee is good. Well-rounded flavour, and well presented.
The Grounds is an amazing space. Imagine a kind of barn (well, former pie factory), all rustic wooden finishes and concrete floors (drool), lit with tungsten lights and dotted with industrial touches like exposed copper pipe. This space cries out to be described in cliches – rustic, post-industrial, but above all, beautiful. You can view the coffee roasters through glass panels and on the wall behind neon yellow letters spell out ‘Research Facility’.
The ‘barn’ opens out onto a large garden/courtyard and there’s plenty of seating to while away the hours. There you’ll find a micro-garden of herbs, fruit and veggies, with chickens no less, giving Cornersmith a run for its money in the made-from-scratch stakes. They also bake their own bread and roast their own beans, and plan to hold cupping and coffee making classes. If you take a quick squiz at Katie Quinn Davies’ (no relation) shoot for The Grounds, I think you’ll agree their home style food (could they BE any more on trend) looks pretty bloody scrumptious. I for one can’t wait to try it.
All in all I’m delighted to have these guys in my backyard. And I plan to spend a lot of time in theirs.
The Grounds of Alexandria
7a/2 Huntly Street (corner Bourke Road)
Alexandria NSW 2015
http://groundsroasters.com/
Monday-Friday 7:00am-4:00pm
Weekends 7:00am – 3:00pm
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21 Responses to The Grounds of Alexandria
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Ooh lovely. That coffee is purty.
I saw a Toby’s Estate in Melbourne CBD yesterday! They must be expanding. Didn’t adore their coffee while I was in Sydney but it kept me afloat (was around the corner from where I was staying).
Lauren aka Ms Baklover recently posted…Sambal Kampung, new Malaysian in Maribyrnong
That’s so funny, I feel the same way about Toby’s estate.
So the coffee’s good, not great? Must check out our new neighbourhood hotspot when I’ back in town. Thanks for the link-up as well!
I thought the coffee was good, I’ll have to go back and reevaluate no doubt, numerous times…
I had two piccolos and enjoyed them both.
It wasn’t overly bitter or strong but nicely rounded with enough follow up flavour to be delicious.
From that early morning taste they’d be roughly on par with York Lane.
I am outsourcing my coffee flavour descriptions to you. ^_^
The photo of the coffee is beautiful. I want to go there.
Dear Lauren,
What a cool name for a cafe. No wonder real estate prices have been creeping up around there.
This place looks amazing…and I LOVE that they have chooks.
You’re quick off the mark! Been watching this place forever, so glad to see they’re now open
Tina@foodboozeshoes recently posted…The White Hart: Drinks with a side of novelty
I haven’t ventured out to Alexandria for quite a while but it sounds like coffee culture is changing the suburb…great to hear!
Anna @ the shady pine recently posted…Midweek stir fry
I just found it accidently passing by and went in had a coffee which was simply the best! Nice place to sit down and dreaming!
Thank you so much for the huge effort!
Keep going well!
Wow, thank you so muchf ro your kind comment! I’m really glad you liked it there, I can’t wait to go back…
I really like the layout and decor of the cafe, it looks so cosy!
this place looks great and after seeing this and all the photos from the twittersphere of late I kind of wish it was closerto my own backyard. will make an effort to check it out though.
henry recently posted…The Long Goodbye
I’ve recently went visit and a coffee. The space is amazing, beautifully decorated. They have done really well with the planting of the garden. A friend told me she couldn’t order eggs as they had run out!! They have their own chickens as they are trying to be self-sufficient.
I thought the coffee was ok to good but not great. I think the coffee at Double Roasters is much better.
The chickens are not yet laying, and they have NEVER run out of eggs!
Food might be good but morals and ethics are in the toilet. I dined there regularly, up until this morning. When having lunch there last Friday my suit jacket was torn on the metal edging of the table. When faced with the prospect of replacing the suit, due to the fact that it cannot be repaired, owners Jack and Ramzey declined to assist. Really poor form.
[…] Redfern. More recently, mention Alexandria and you conjur up images of chic warehouse hotspots like The Grounds or Kitchen by Mike. That’s just dandy, but those are hardly ‘stroll-in-for-a-quick-coffee’ […]
[…] with the rest of the gun baristas for custom on the main drag. Hell, you can even start your own hub of hipness in a post-industrial […]
[…] that can be said about the Grounds that you wouldn’t have already read here or here or here, but one thing we love about it is that it’s dog friendly! We had been previously and saw the […]