Mayfield's Onyx Espresso cafe expands to meet demand

"We were really just a small espresso bar, with cakes, drinks and toasties," Aboltins tells Weekender.

"We didn't have a kitchen. The counter was still a coffee cart - that's how small we were. Nothing was fixed in. It was all very temporary."

Offering a simple food menu done well and great coffee from Canberra roasters ONA, Onyx became a popular spot with the Mayfield community.

Perhaps a little too popular.

"We just got busier and busier, and with that kitchen, or the lack thereof, it became harder to do what we were doing," she says.

"I had an incredible chef come to work for me and he could make these amazing meals out of nothing. He only had a hot plate and sandwich press to work with, but he still made these incredible meals just using that equipment.

"Then it just got so busy, the space could not handle it anymore."

Aboltins, who has a long history in the hospitality industry, wanted to offer more, so she took over the vacant space next door. The six-month project was completed last month, unveiling the installation of a new kitchen and a complete renovation of the old space which has returned as a cool, Melbourne-inspired cafe.

Head chef Jay Dorse has expanded the breakfast and lunch menu, and kept the favourites - the brekky burger ($13) and the toasties: Reuben with pastrami, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, dill pickles and American sauce ($13); and the haloumi with mushrooms, basil pesto, semi-dried tomatoes and rocket (also $13).

"They have both become kind of iconic here," Aboltin says.

"We will try to keep the menu seasonal, so every three months we change it and refresh things, but the aim is to keep doing that while keeping the classics, too."

Increased kitchen space allowed for the installation of a pizza oven, with Neapolitan-style pizzas on the lunch menu, as well as more substantial offerings such as burgers (Kentucky fried cauliflower; beef burger; and buttermilk chicken all $19) and share plates including lemon chicken arancini ($12); charred capsicum bruschetta ($15); haloumi fries with tomato relish ($13); and trio of dips with garlic pizza bread ($15).

The menu highlights lots of locally-sourced produce.

"Our cakes are supplied by Covered In Crumbs and Uprising, who we get all our bread from as well, and we serve Tea Collective teas," Aboltins says. "Our fruit and veg supplier is local, and our meat comes from Darby Street Meats, so everything is as local as possible."

With the space now offering a large dining area, Aboltins hopes to begin trade in the evenings, too.

As well as indoor dining, Onyx has a large courtyard out the back which is dog-friendly (there are puppycinos on the menu) and she has added a cubby house to the space for kids to play in.

While 2020 has proved a difficult year for many in the hospitality industry, Onyx returned bigger and better after lockdown.

It could be a case of good karma.

Aboltins was able to trade through COVID lockdown by offering takeaway options and also used her time to cook and distribute meals for those in need.

With the help of her mother Kathy (who helped establish the cafe and continues to work alongside her daughter), chef Dorse and a long list of volunteers, Onyx distributed 3000 meals during the pandemic.

"I had approached Baptist Care about doing a homeless dinner night at Onyx once a month and I actually had one scheduled, but then COVID hit," Aboltins says.

"I thought I would have to shut the cafe and so I thought, 'What else can I do?'. I told my chef 'Why don't we cook a big batch of meals every day and then drop them off to people? Instead of them coming to us for dinner, we could take the food to them'."

Aboltins posted the offer of free meals on social media and was blown away by the response.

"Lucky for me, I had just as many people wanting meals as I had people wanting to volunteer," she says. "I basically became this flight control centre where I was organising all these people to cook meals and drop them off. It became a huge operation and kept going for a few months until I ran out of requests for meals.

"Even to this day, if someone comes to the cafe and says, 'I'm really hungry', I will always find something for them to eat."