Good coffee good conscience

One of the Southbank community’s favourite meeting places changed hands last month, with the new House of Cards Espresso moving into the cafe at the Boyd Community Hub.

Previously operated by former owner James Murphy under the name Kere Kere South, owners Guy Neil-Baker, Dan La Rosa and Charlie La Rosa have established House of Cards with the intention of maintaining the Kere Kere legacy while giving it a fresh spin.

As its name would suggest, the popular House of Cards donation system whereby customers use a playing card to nominate a cause to donate towards will remain, as will the traditions of excellent coffee and customer service!

However, as with any new business it’s keen to bring about a few of its own changes. One such change it has already implemented is opening on Saturdays; something Guy said had already been received well by locals.  

“We’re very happy to be here at Boyd and it’s a new challenge for us having the relationship with James who left the place in good hands we’re excited to take on the new project,” he said.

“Saturdays we’ll open 7.30am until 1.30pm initially just to see how the trade goes but it’s really dictated by the community and if people are coming in we’ll stay open later.”

Having started with two cafes at LaTrobe University, the business has history with former Kere Kere owner James, having taken over his old cafe at Melbourne University, which also operates under the name House of Cards.

With a similar community ethos centred on generosity and caring, the business was well placed to take over the cafe, which has become a much loved meeting place since Boyd’s opening in 2012.

With a strong focus on promoting local artwork, photography and paintings are now displayed in the cafe, while it has also added a few new menu items and introduced a new fresh blend of locally-roasted coffee.

Guy said the business was looking forward to getting involved in the community and using the space at Boyd Community Hub to engage further with locals.

“Being within the community hub there’s space for a lot of that kind of community engagement,” he said.

“I think with any business you get into the space to feel what’s going to work, what’s not going to work and how to bring that community feel to the space is always a challenge but it’s something that we’re looking forward to.”

For more information visit houseofcardsespresso.com