Locally owned and operated café (and soon to be roastery) Hey Darling has opened up in the former Hudsons Coffee spot on Pirie Street.

In a broad glass frontage at the base of a twelve-storey building, at the intersection of Pirie Street and Gawler Place, Hey Darling has joined the competitive CBD coffee scene.

The space was most recently occupied by Hudsons Coffee, but over the last six weeks has been fit out to accommodate its boutique café offering, and will also eventually include Croydon roaster Willow Bend.

Hey Darling’s offering is quick and uncomplicated – as well as Willow Bend coffee, there are focaccias, wraps, salads and sweeter options – but the café’s owners have been careful to position the business to sit amongst the nearby fast-casual eateries.

“We make everything – we’ll change our salads every week or so to give people a bit of variety; toasted focaccias; just the easy sort of stuff,” co-owner Jessica Marshall says.

“Just something different that Levant don’t do and that Abbots & Kinney don’t do and that Chicken & Pig don’t do, just to give people a bit of choice.”

Hey Darling is sister venue to Double Barrel, a café situated in the foyer of the Santos building on Flinders Street. This is Jessica’s first business, but is the second for her business partner, Antony Marafioti, who brought her back into hospitality from a brief stint as an office worker.

“You always say, ‘Yeah, I’d love to open my own business one day,’ and I’d always been a bit scared, but being with Tony, because he’s been so successful and is very knowledgeable about business, it kind of gives you that confidence to be like, ‘Let’s do this,’” she says.

Antony had been looking for a second site since opening Double Barrel four years ago, with the goal of opening something on Pirie Street. There is much activity scheduled for the strip in the coming years, creating a great incentive to be a food-and-beverage operator in the area.

But Antony also wanted to provide a not-too-distant second portal for people who enjoy Double Barrel’s fare.

“There’s a cult following of people from Grenfell Street, Waymouth and Flinders leaving their streets to come to this section,” Antony says.

“[And] a lot of people leave the Santos building to go to any other café but mine, purely because they want to leave the building they’re in. Just like I get a lot of business from people leaving their buildings to come to mine.

“If I’m going to lose a few customers leaving the Santos building, I’ve got the potential to gain them here now.”

The café differs from Double Barrel in its aesthetic, which was produced by Jessica to be appropriate for café meetings as well as “a space that you walk into and relax.”

L-R: Co-owners Antony Marafioti and Jessica Marshall

The presence of the roaster will also provide a point of difference for the space. Ben Pankhurst, founder of Willow Bend Coffee Roasters, will bring his Toper 10 copper-plated roaster from his Croydon shopfront into the Pirie Street store, pending the final OK from the council.

“There’s a lot of us in this industry, we all know each other, but no one’s really moving together as a group,” Antony says.

“It was really good to come together and actually work with and partner up with our roaster, as opposed to just buying and supplying like everybody else does.”

“Having Ben in store as well, being able to explain where the coffee comes from and things like that, it creates a bit more of a connection for the customer,” Jessica continues.

“A lot of people come into Double Barrel and ask, ‘Where are these beans from? What’s the process?’ I’ve got no idea about the process, but having him in store, we can direct people to Ben and get him to show them how it works.”

Hey Darling also has a retail section, with a selection of beans available and some at-home coffee equipment.

Hey Darling opens Monday to Friday from 7am ‘til 4pm.