The Wright Street café’s first grab-and-go espresso bar spin-off site is now open on Waymouth Street.

It was in January this year – a much simpler time – that we first heard of Emily Raven’s plans for the expansion of her café and coffee company My Kingdom For a Horse.

Like many operators within the hospitality industry, Emily had entered this new decade with eyes set on the horizon, while taking measured steps toward growth in her business.

Of course, this was hampered when COVID hit – My Kingdom saw a drastic reduction in trade at Wright Street, which saw them pivot to takeaway, then shut down entirely in order to take a breather and reassess the path forward in our new reality.

All the while, Emily’s new My Kingdom site, at the 11 Waymouth Street development, continued on.

Her original opening date was scheduled for 10 March, but delays in the build meant this date, thankfully, got pushed back.

Just as work life reaches towards its pre-COVID normality, the build has been completed, and the space fitted out and opened as My Kingdom For a Horse Espresso – the first espresso bar offshoot for the brand.

There is My Kingdom-roasted coffee available as espresso and batch-brewed filter, and there is a range of grab-and-go food available, all of which is prepared offsite by the My Kingdom kitchen team.

Many coffee brands in Adelaide have chosen wholesaling as the expansion route of choice for their business. In addition to operating their own cafés, they offer packs of their roasted beans to other coffee shops.

Emily is a stickler for brand experience, and leaving that experience in the hands of other operators, she feels, is too risky.

“I like to have complete control of the quality of what we do,” she says.

“Obviously, commercial coffee roasting is another business entirely. I wasn’t in a position to go in and give people machines and do all that, be on the road servicing all of that.”

This has meant expansion has been a long game.

“It’s taken us five years to get to this point to be able to expand,” Emily explains.

“I felt that we’d reached maturity with our brand on Wright Street, it was time to expand, and an espresso bar was what I wanted to do.

“We were able to supply our own coffee, coming in with something different to what’s across the road at Cibo or Likuid or these places. We’ve got a speciality coffee blend, we’re very proud of it, and it definitely has its customers.

“We have turned Wright Street into a partial production kitchen at night, so we’ve worked on our whole chain and our food production processes, and we’re producing our own unique line of sandwiches and salads, using all of Adelaide’s terrific bakers and that sort of thing.”

Another benefit disguised by the tumult of COVID was the ability to develop the espresso bar’s menu through the pivot to takeaway at Wright Street.

Emily Raven

Emily hopes the Waymouth Street space will only be the first expansion of many for the brand.

Doing so not only allows her to reach new people with the My Kingdom brand, but it means offering her staff, those existing and new, an opportunity for growth within the hospitality industry.

“This is a long-term project coming, and I couldn’t have done it without Gennie [Shi Yunn Chee], our barista and now coffee roaster as well. She’s been really integral [to the project],” Emily says

“We brought back some old employees who had worked in the kitchen. We’re a very family-oriented business, so people with young families, that sort of thing, who like consistency in the work they do.

“Expansion in the business is great for the people that work for me, I can give them some ownership in that, particular Gennie, who’s been working for me for three years now.”

My Kingdom For a Horse is located at 11 Waymouth Street and opens Monday to Friday from 7am ‘til 4pm.