Every town needs a good local café and the Appleseed Café in Strathalbyn, SA is it. Owned by Julie and Andrew Roberts, this country café has been transformed into a dining experience for customers to come and enjoy breakfast, lunch and a great cup of coffee. A popular spot for locals and business clientele, the dedicated children’s play area is also a hit with families and mothers’ groups.
Julie says they cater for the best of both worlds. “We offer friendly service, a relaxed atmosphere and quality food and coffee. We really try to offer the whole package and our customers keep coming back so we must be doing something right,” she says.
The café caters for private functions off-site and opens for intimate dinners on Friday evenings. Appleseed Café uses an Expobar Megacreme coffee machine and their coffee is supplied by local and
independent SA roaster, Mahalia Coffee from Robe.
With an organic coffee focus, appleseed uses the fair Trade organic Indonesian Sumatra Gayo single origin beans, laced with winey, fruited notes and hints of Sandalwood. Julie describes the aromatics as a chocolate base, with plum fruited notes, a low acidity and opaque body.
The world of coffee is still quite fresh to the husband and wife team. Andrew, a chef of many years, is at home in the hospitality world, however Julie has shifted career direction, having previously worked in administration.
Julie reflects on the past 12 months and says the business has been challenging, but thoroughly rewarding. “It’s incredibly hard work operating seven days a week, but to see the business grow over the past year and to have the support from locals has been great,” she says.
Compared to big suburban cities, Julie says the coffee scene is still developing in Strathalbyn. “Being a small country town, there’s not a major café scene here and it’s been fun to watch customer’s faces as they are presented with a beautifully decorated coffee – I think we’re the only café in town doing any form of latte art,” she says.
Andrew is head chef at Appleseed and prepares a majority of food on site. The café offers a fresh and delicious variety of food and even offers children’s breakfast and lunch menus along with a gluten-free menu. An all-day breakfast and lunch menu provides an extensive selection of tasty dishes including many vegetarian options.
