“We really wanted to challenge ourselves, push our boundaries and try some things differently than we’d ever done before,” says Kieran Spiteri.

Alongside Ben Argentino and Bec Moore, Spiteri co-owns Yolk Group, which is behind tried-and-true brunch spots Tinker, Convoy, Terror Twilight, and the latter’s sister sandwich shop Hi Fi. For their fifth venue Ophelia, which opened this week in the former Barry site in Westgarth, the team is going a slightly different route.

The daytime diner merges cafe and bar vibes with a regularly changing menu and expertly executed cocktails. For Spiteri, inspiration struck when he and his wife were struggling to find a suitable spot for lunch. “We didn’t want to go to a restaurant, per se, but we didn’t want to go to a cafe,” he says. “So, where do you go? Where it’s a bit of an in-betweener, that offers an elevated cafe experience like our other businesses, but it’s not a restaurant?”

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Arrive early for an evolving breakfast menu, by Yolk’s executive chef Dale Kemp and Terror Twilight’s head chef Emma Kaye, that’s designed to share. There’s currently a buckwheat savoury galette with roast zucchini, buffalo milk ricotta and rocket pepita pesto; and staropolska (Polish sausage) served with mustard cabbage, relish, a fried egg and pickled baby fennel. To drink, there are coffees from rotating guest roasters, house-made fermented sodas, and standout signatures including an iced latte with miso-butterscotch cream and banana-coffee crumb.

From 11am, you’ll find bullhorn peppers stuffed with fried red rice, black bean, tahini and grana padano; and barramundi rillette served with rye toast, smoked mustard and bread and butter pickles. If you’re in the mood for snacking, there’s a deli plate with market cheese, cold-cuts, pickles, smoked seeded mustard, relish, sourdough and local olives.

Accompanying the lunchtime menu is a selection of biodynamic local wines and fun cocktails – including a Breakfast Martini with marmalade and a “Good Vibrations” number with rum, apricot brandy and coconut cream – best enjoyed from the central curved bar.

The inviting, light-filled interior matches the menu’s attention to detail. Working in-house with Yolk’s designer Kate Durham, the team has opted for a retro-ish Euro-style aesthetic with warm timbers and the original red terrazzo flooring. There’s also comfortable booth seating and brass, circular tables at the back. But the real statement piece is the floor-to-ceiling record wall, accompanied by vintage speakers and a turntable spinning vinyl all day.

“We really wanted to bring back the daytime energy and feel around Westgarth from a couple years back, when Barry’s first opened and it was really buzzing,” Spiteri says. Once the weather warms up, the team will be trying out evening service a few times a month too.

Ophelia
85 High Street, Westgarth

Hours:
Mon to Fri 7am–4pm
Sat & Sun 8am–4pm

opheliawestgarth.com.au
@opheliawestgarth