Twin brothers Shaun and Daniel Osborn thought outside the square when designing Adamstown cafe Local Customs.
Given its size and location - part of the Habitat Living site on busy Glebe Road with The Nursery on Glebe - they wanted it to be more of a "destination" than a cafe; a welcoming social space for people to feed their stomachs as well as their souls.
The brothers grew up in the Lake Macquarie suburb of Caves Beach where they spent their days surfing, kayaking, diving and fishing. They have worked as baristas, in bars and as kitchen hands, but their hospitality experience runs deeper. They know what they like when it comes to dining and service and they want to offer that same standard to their customers at Local Customs.
"We've travelled all around Australia and through different parts of Europe and America, dining at restaurants and cafes. We love experiencing venues with an interesting offering, and that's where we want to take Local Customs," Shaun said.
The pair opened The Bondwood Cafe, also on Glebe Road at Adamstown, five years ago. There they serve coffee, toasties, smoothies, pastries and acai bowls from an original 1950s Bondwood Caravan to families, dog walkers and commuters grabbing a coffee on their way to work.
Local Customs, on the other hand, is "more of a social space than a cafe".
"Bondwood was our first baby, our stepping stone, but it went so well and we just fell in love with the Adamstown community and wanted to offer them something new," Shaun said.
"We wanted to offer plated meals, table service, a retail outlet, cosy seating, weatherproof dining; all those things that we can't achieve at the caravan.
"Local Customs incorporates a diverse range of seating - garden seating, deck seating, a lounge area, kids' seating, dog-friendly spaces - and we have more to offer than a typical cafe."
There's a dedicated vinyl room, for example, stocked by Abicus ("We play vinyl with a focus on old-school tracks from the likes of Aretha Franklin and Otis Redding") and a pantry which sells pasta sauces, hot sauces, chocolates, mustards, jams and relishes.
There's also a fresh produce table which is "an extension of Goodness Me Organics, just down the road" and a deli fridge that stocks a range of dips and cheeses.
"We choose products from small businesses that you can't really buy off the shelf anywhere else," Shaun said, listing as examples Jam Lady Jam, Women's Work, Botanical Cuisine ("Her macadamia cheeses are just crazy") and The Tea Collective.
"Everything on our menu is house made, pickled, fermented, cured, confit.
"Our hot sauce selection is my favourite; I'm a hot sauce lover and I travelled up and down the coast, trying people's hot sauces, getting their numbers, ordering it in."
They use their own coffee blend, roasted at Glitch Coffee Roasters in Sandgate.
"It's called the El Dorado and it is two parts Columbian and one part Brazilian. It's full of flavour, it's fruity, it's robust, it's everything you want in a coffee," Shaun said.
Head chef Sarah Kokkin crafts her seasonal menu around fresh, locally sourced, high-quality ingredients.
"Her goal is to do the simple stuff exceptionally well, which she does. She's an incredible chef," Shaun said.
"She is very creative and thinks of something new and it's put on the specials list the next day and people love it. She just did a burnt butter porridge with white chocolate, sour cream and fresh fruit and it was insane.
"Our take-home bacon and egg roll is popular, it's on a wood-fired panini with house-made chilli jam, aioli, white onion and rocket; it's just delicious.
"People also love the house-smoked trout salad, the butter bean salad and the Green Eggs and Ham Benny. We love taking menu favourites and putting our twist on them, making them more interesting."
Customers are encouraged to take their time at Local Customs. They can browse Habitat Living and the nursery, check out the cafe's upcycled furniture (made with love by Daniel), enjoy a coffee and a meal and a leisurely chat.
Anything goes.
"Being on a site with two other lifestyle businesses encourages people to stop for a while. We want people to come in, take a breath and think 'Ah, this is nice'," Shaun said.
"We have space, and people aren't crammed in. We want our cafe to have soul, depth and meaning behind it."
Keep an eye out for music events and themed dinner nights in the future, too.
"Local Customs is a very diverse site and able to offer a lot of different things. It's ever expanding and changing and we're super stoked it's all working and is being well received."
