When Broadsheet drops in on Kate Pattarapongkasame in what will be her second North Adelaide cafe, the space is no more than an echoey glass and concrete cube. Pattarapongkasame had her eye on the site for years and was excited to finally see a “for lease” sign in the window.
Pattarapongkasame and her husband Boyd stepped away from their first venture, the Melbourne Street hot spot UR Caffe, a few years ago. After a roundabout journey via Thailand and a short stint in the real estate world, they’re opening a new cafe just 1500 metres down the road from UR Caffe.
The takeaway-focused cafe will offer “quirky yet tasty” sandwiches inspired by Pattarapongkasame’s time overseas. “My recipes are from my travels,” she says. “We had schiacciata [flatbread] in Italy with mortadella and stracciatella, and we loved it. I was imagining, what if I put [Italian cheese] with satay chicken or even a chicken curry? How can I put a Thai twist on it?”
To ensure Sathu stands out from the glut of rival sandwich vendors sweeping Adelaide, Pattarapongkasame will focus on making everything in-house, including condiments such as chilli oil, mayo, pesto and chilli honey.
Despite being away from the hospitality game for a few years, Pattarapongkasame has kept up relationships with her suppliers from the UR Caffe days. Sathu will serve coffee by d’Angelo Coffee Roasters and sweets from Prove Patisserie.
There’s also a dual-purpose “slushie/soft serve machine”, imported from Italy, which will serve matcha and Thai tea flavours.
The name “Sathu” has a double meaning. On one hand it refers to her personal story: “‘Sa’ is for South Australia and the ‘th’ is for Thailand, with the u meaning ‘united’.” On the other, the Thai word Sathu.
Sathu, (55 King William Road ,North Adelaide), is opening in late July or early August.
