The Kent Town café and roastery has set up a hole-in-the-wall coffee shop at JR's Surf & Ski on Grenfell Street, formerly home to Seafaring Fool.

As the Adelaide CBD begins to rustle from its nap, Kent Town café Octeine has opened up its second frontage on Grenfell Street.

The hole-in-the-wall spot was formerly known as Seafaring Fool and faces out to the street from JR’s Surf & Ski.

Octeine’s expansion comes just over a year after the launch of the business at Kent Town, and founder Pete Mann, who previously worked at the Seafaring Fool shop, says the opportunity was a perfect fit for both brands.

“The opportunity presented itself really as Al Corston (owner, Seafaring Fool) asked me if I was interested,” Pete says.

“Having worked in the same venue beforehand it was an easy yes. I’ve now been able to tweak the layout a little to provide a fast coffee service along with grab and go food options.”

Pete Mann

The project has been in the works for over a month, all the while cloaked by the uncertainty of the coronavirus crisis. It was a nervous build-up to launch, but Pete says the city is starting to regain some of its pre-COVID vigour.

“It’s definitely improving. Just the last week we noticed more and more people returning to work, which made our hearts sing,” Pete says.

“Even just chatting to our new regulars, they mentioned their office floors were slowly refilling – up from 10% occupancy to, 20, 30% even. Still a long way to go but great news for the CBD.

“It was a very difficult, wait as there was so much uncertainty around COVID19 and restrictions being implemented. I did, however, know it was the right decision for Octeine and what we represent. To share the space with JRs Surf and Ski is the perfect marriage for our brand.”

The Octeine CBD shopfront offers espresso-style coffee, with a rotating roster of house-roasted seasonal blends. Currently on offer is a “Brazil, Colombia, India composition.

Filter fans are also looked after, with cold brew, cold drip and batch brew versions available, depending on how each seasonal coffee blend is best experienced.

The coffee stop also currently offers a short range of grab-and-go food options, such as Four Seeds brownies, Saudade Portuguese custard tarts and Raw Bliss raw treats (bliss balls and slices).

As the city’s foot traffic picks back up again, Pete will look to introduce prepped and ready-to-go versions of overnight oats, chia pudding, bircher muesli.

Octeine CBD opens from 7am ‘til 1pm Monday to Friday. The shop will extend its hours as the city’s streets become busier.