“There’s a little hill up Sydney Road,” says Kael Sahely. “They just call it Lobb’s Hill. William Lobb was this old farmer who lived there 170 years ago.”

Lobbs is the next project by Sahely and his brother Matt. Between them, they’ve founded and sold some of Melbourne’s most significant cafes: Richmond’s Pillar of Salt, Northcote’s Barry, Richmond’s Touchwood and Hawthorn’s Bawa.

Lobbs, the brothers’ second venture up north, will be much larger than either of their two current cafes, East Melbourne’s Square and Compass and CBD coffee shop Vacation. The duo has enlisted Technē Architecture + Interior Design and creative studio TCYK to transform a defunct toyshop opposite Brunswick Supa IGA into a 120-seat, day-to-night eatery with high ceilings and plenty of open space.

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“It sounds cliche, but we’ll just be doing really simple food,” Sahely says. “You won’t see anything tricked up.” They want Lobbs to be a reliable local spot, rather than a hyped cross-town destination.

By day Lobbs will serve Vacation coffee, which is roasted at Bureaux Collective. By night Sahely hopes large groups will drop in for a bowl of mussels, some fries and a few bottles of wine – if that’s what Brunswick residents are up for. “We’ll just try a few things, put the feelers out to the area.”

Lobbs will open in October at 589–591 Sydney Road, Brunswick