Coffee experts launch Australian-inspired brunch spot and wine bar

Founded by coffee experts Elliot Milne and Matthew Robley-Siemonsra, the café currently serves breakfast, brunch and coffee, and will launch its evening wine bar menu on Thursday.

The brunch menu is being overseen by Chris Munnings, the former head chef at Duck and Waffle local. Dishes include the likes of coddled eggs in a jar with cream and sweet potato puree, sea salt and chives with sourdough; banana bread with espresso cream cheese; Burford Browns eggs benedict with ham hock and spinach on sourdough; and the Australian brunch classic of sourdough toast with vegemite.

Larger dishes include a poke bowl of tuna tamari with pineapple chilli salsa, wakame, avocado, crispy shallots, spring onion and sesame seeds; and prawn and chilli linguine.

When it launches, the evening menu will comprise small plates served alongside natural wines which can also be bought to take home. Soon-to-be-former P.Franco chef George Tomlin has done what he describes as "a bit of consultancy work" on the evening offering. 

Designed by Australian interior designer Karen Morris, the café’s décor is intended to “bring a little bit of Sydney to London”, featuring marble topped tables, wooden furniture and a light, neutral colour palette.

The team behind the venture are well-versed in the coffee world. Milne worked in Ethiopia with The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to set up the Coffee Initiative Project, helping coffee farmers access sustainable financing to improve the quality of their coffee. Milk Beach will purchase and sell coffee from the farmers Elliot worked with on the project.

Robley-Siemonsra has worked with coffee for a decade, having been manager at both Prufrock Coffee and TAP.