The McLaren Vale roaster has partnered with Boy & Bloom to open coffee kiosk FKA, creating the Dawn Patrol founders' first official CBD home since they closed Sad:Café.

Coffee roaster and wholesaler Dawn Patrol has claimed some CBD floor space, opening café kiosk FKA in Rundle Place.

Dawn Patrol has long had a presence in the city through its wholesaling contracts, but FKA signals the return of co-owners Dominic Ossa and Nick Suggit to the city’s coffee scene following the closure of Sad:Café in 2017.

Through FKA, Dom hopes to more prominently fly the Dawn Patrol flag in the Adelaide market.

Dom says his roastery has made its name on the unusual flavours they achieve through their roasting process.

“They’re unique. They have very specific flavour [components] and are hard to get a hold of,” he says.

One Mexican coffee blend, called Purple Honey, has hints of grape, melon and blueberries.

In addition to the quirky flavour profiles, Dawn Patrol is also known for its commitment to ethical sourcing and premium quality produce.

“We’ve always been known for that sort of higher end of specialty coffee,” Dom says.

“Even our base line… blends that a coffee shop would use are still of really high quality and usually associate themselves with single producers and are sustainably sourced.”

Some quirky coffee beans

Dawn Patrol’s McLaren Vale roastery doubles as a cellar door, where coffee fans can “see and taste everything”. For this city frontage, they’ve partnered with another local café, Boy & Bloom, founded and run by Michael and Jessica Morphett.

“They’ve been good friends [of mine] for many years, and so when we came together on this project the idea was that they have such a strong knowledge of operation,” Dom says.

“It’s always better having a few heads together.”

Alongside the coffee, FKA serves a range of takeaway-oriented food options, which Dom says leans into Dawn Patrol’s preference for quality and simplicity.

The ‘Jack n Jill’ Cubano

The menu features bagels, Cubanos, toasted baguettes and croissants. All items are prepared at the Boy & Bloom kitchen, as the kiosk is tight on space.

“The competition’s really high in Adelaide for coffee shops to provide really strong, almost restaurant-type food offering,” Dom says.

“Having a kiosk means we don’t really have the space to be able to produce copious amounts of crazy food offerings.”

Dom’s pick is the ‘Jack ‘n’ Jill’ Cubano, pictured above, which includes grilled spiced jackfruit, Manchego cheese, pickles and secret tomato sauce.

“Jackfruit, for me, is probably one of my favourite things, and I love barbecue and jackfruit, good cheese toasted — can’t go wrong,” Dom says.

Another beloved menu item is the ‘Tavern on the Green’ bagel, which has olive tapenade, spinach pesto and marinated mushroom.

The ‘Tavern on the Green’ bagel

When peeping into Rundle Place from Grenfell Street, FKA is hard to miss.

The architecture, from MASH Design, features an array of large, aesthetically pleasing white arches designed to look like a sunrise.

“When we first went into the designing, I went back to my good friend [Dom Roberts] at MASH Design, who did the original branding for all of our coffee,” Dom says.

“I pretty much left it with him and his team, and they came up with something which I think resonates quite nicely with the brand itself.”

FKA is located at on the ground floor of Rundle Place and is open from 7am ’til 5pm Monday to Friday, and 9am ’til 5pm on Saturday and Sunday.

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