Designing a diorama of a cafe for a high school assignment was a sign of things to come for Madelyn Baldwin.
Not long after, she was driving through the Lake Macquarie suburb of Teralba with her parents when she pointed at the shopfront at 40 York Street and declared "I'm going to own that shop one day".
Baldwin, now 25, is a woman of her word.
"Years later I was randomly driving there again and saw a phone number on a piece of paper in the shop window, so I called it and went from there," she explained.
"I had been saving for this since I first started working. I love the village atmosphere that Teralba has and the quaint little shopfronts."
Baldwin opened Maddz on York at 40 York Street, Teralba, on March 18. Five days later she was forced to close the cafe's dining area due to COVID restrictions.
"It was very traumatic opening my first business and being hit with all this in the first week," she said.
"I quickly reviewed my business plan and reverted the menu to takeaway. Every week has had its new challenges."
During high school Baldwin worked at a takeaway shop, then as a barista. After completing year 12, she took on an apprentice chef role at D Bar & Grill, Wallsend, followed by a stint as head chef at Q & Co at Warners Bay.
"I then decided that I wanted to further my education, so I went back to TAFE to complete my second apprenticeship as a pastry chef, and joined an amazing team at Euro Patisserie," she said.
She continued to work there while building her cafe from the ground up.
"I did some very long days where I would start work at 2am and then go straight to the shop, but it all came together in the end," Baldwin said.
"I love 1950s style so I wanted that to be the main inspiration for my shop. I would say it has a Miami retro theme with the pastel pink and mint and the vintage Hollywood feature wall, flamingo cushions, my collection of vintage teacups and the amazing coffee machine built specially for me that I requested to look like a cadillac."
As for the menu, it's "fresh and simple" and everything is prepared on-site.
"My lemon meringue tarts, Danish pastries and individual peppermint, caramel and cherry slices are by far our most popular sweets," Baldwin said.
"Our smashed avo, house-crumbed schnitzel burgers and bacon and egg rolls are also popular. Our coffee is from local roaster Glitch Coffee Roasters and we use a blend called Tambo."
Many of the curious Teralba locals who walked past 40 York Street during the renovation stage and offered words of encouragement to Baldwin are now regular customers.
"They have made me feel very welcome. We are so grateful for all the support."
