Opposite an old brick warehouse tagged with graffiti and wedged beside Wal’s Workshop is Wickham’s best-kept secret. Well, at least if you’re a coffee die-hard with a serious love for furniture.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
From the kerb in Greenway Street, Dark Horse Espresso looks like a very schmick hole-in-the-wall operation.
Looks do not deceive. Inside, there’s barely enough space to groom four Shetland ponies.
But the cafe’s few props – a few tables, a long bench wall seat and two milk crates positioned to enjoy morning street sunshine – offer ample room to nourish an increasing clientele pool: suits eminating from nearby offices, workers from the glut of factories in the zone and pram-toting mothers seeking a quick burst of the real world.
If Nelson Bay boy Kylen Read’s coffee stained fingers aren’t proof of his passion for his craft, his knowledge is. Trained at length by Sydney-founded Campos Coffee, which has a commitment to sourcing quality coffee with a view to ethical and sustainable practices, he was a head barista for years in the big smoke before he grabbed the chance to open his own espresso joint in Wickham in December.
Dark Horse Espresso uses Campos’s superior blend as well as an ever-changing single origin coffee – last week it was Ethiopian Yiracheffe, today it’s El Salvador Cajamarca.
‘‘It’s all about giving people the best coffee experience,’’ says Read, taking a break from his ‘‘workhorse’’, a gleaming La Marzocco coffee machine.
‘‘We put a lot of energy into it. A good coffee can get your day off to a good start.’’
Like a wine buff, Read recognises countless flavours in his coffee and shares his enthusiasm with clients.
‘‘Having the single origin in a flat white with two sugars hides the flavour so we try to get people to cut down their sugar,’’ he says, before quickly adding: ‘‘But we’re not snobby about it, we’re not coffee nazis – the customer is always right.’’
But enough coffee talk, there’s more to this Dark Horse that meets the eye. Once you’ve taken in the cafe’s urban decor and the small but moreish menu (the toasties have a serious fan club) you’ll notice two red doors with wrought iron detail.
Beyond them is French Patina, the newish headquarters of long-time furniture specialists Phillip and Roslyn Pritchard and their daughter Emily, 30, who is married to Read.
When not beside her husband at the cafe counter, Emily helps her parents run their business, which comprises the showroom space behind the cafe plus two adjoining warehouses.
The Pritchards have worked in the furniture game since 1995. Emily says her dad used to be an antique dealer, then went into french polishing before making and importing furniture.
She joined the family business in Newcastle at 16 and worked from 2002 to 2009 at its Sydney store in Willoughby, just around the corner from Channel Nine’s studios.
‘‘[The Today Show’s] Lisa and Georgie and Richard Wilkins used to come in a lot,’’ she smiles. ‘‘One day Anthony Warlow came in and mum and dad loved that!’’
When Emily grew tired of Sydney about two years ago, the family closed the Willoughby premises and reopened a small shop at The Junction before her dad suggested retailing from the Wickham warehouse he had used to store furniture for years.
The family sells French-style furniture they import from or have made in Indonesia, and one of Emily’s three siblings, Ben, also sells his hand-crafted tables in the showroom.
The family are close-knit, though there can be occasional friction when ordering stock.
‘‘Dad’s taste is a bit ‘out there’ sometimes – Mum and I have to rein him in,’’ laughs Emily, who loves her job and plans to formalise her skill set by doing an interior design course.
Dark Horse Espresso fuel will no doubt keep her steady in the study saddle.
