Coffee Bureau

Nerri and Ronny Herrmann

378a Burwood Road

Although aware of the great location in the terraced public space beside the Hawthorn Arts Centre and adjoining Access Health Centre, Neri and Ronny emphasise that it is "not just about the location but the product." A quality product is key for the new owners of The Coffee Bureau.

Neri, the face of Coffee Bureau, and husband Ronny moved from Brisbane in early 2018. After looking around for a few months, in June they found the Hawthorn shop for rent.

After a few weeks of renovations, they opened the doors on 24 August 2018, keeping the previous owners’ name of Coffee Bureau.

This particular shop has changed hands a few times over the years, but Neri and Ronny want to bring something long-term and unique to Glenferrie Hawthorn and they know “we have to stand out.”

Neri has observed that the locals and visitors of Hawthorn seem to appreciate healthy and flavourful dishes, with people often asking her for the list of ingredients.

Due to this, the focus of her restaurant is around everything fresh, healthy and accessible for vegans, vegetarian or gluten free diets. Although she is happy to ensure your food suits your needs, she won’t give away all the secrets of her recipes!

Neri’s favourite part of the job is creating and changing up recipes and being overall creative with food. She is taking this opportunity to include some Cambodian style food and meals to the menu.

With visitors to the Hawthorn Arts Centre for events, exhibitions and the monthly Makers Market, church-goers and Access Health Centre right next door, Coffee Bureau sees an array of customers throughout the week.

Glenferrie “feels like a growing community” says Neri, who emphasises her joy of building relationships with customers. Without these relationships, “there’s something missing in life. You have to be a part of a community.”

Having studied hospitality at Queensland Bracken Ridge TAFE then going on to work as a Thai chef and a barista, this has given Neri the experience and knowledge for starting the restaurant and café.

Born in Cambodia, it wasn’t until 2000 when Neri was in her 20s that she moved to Australia to study. Ronny is originally from Germany, and travelled a lot for his job in construction. The two met in the Middle East between travelling and living and eventually settled in Australia, as this was where their son was born and they had many friends here.

While Neri runs the café and is the decision maker, Ronny also works behind the scenes on the accounts and marketing. He fits this in around his construction work, recently working on the Metro Project at Melbourne Central.

With a change of logo and maybe a few upgrades and changes scheduled for 2019, it will be exciting to see how Coffee Bureau both fits in with the Glenferrie community and stands out as a unique cafe and eatery.