Soba and Sando Cafe Supernova Has Closed, but the Owners Aren’t Slowing Down

Fourteen months after it opened, Japanese sando and soba cafe Supernova closed on Friday.

“We are incredibly grateful for your support, smiles, and shared moments over endless matchas and katsu sandos,” owners Tze-Huei and Chewie Choo wrote in a statement posted to Instagram. “Your encouragement meant the world to us. This may be the end of one chapter, but it’s not goodbye. Stay in touch and stay tuned – exciting new ventures are brewing from us Choo brothers … and we can’t wait to share what’s next.”

Speaking to Broadsheet, Tze-Huei said, “We tapped into a concept that worked really well in the first six to 10 months, but eventually, the [lack of] foot traffic meant the venue wasn’t getting enough volume.”

The venue originally also functioned as a production hub for the brothers’ croque cafe James & Antler, which they sold last October when “this young chap came knocking on our door and gave us an offer that we couldn’t refuse”.

The new owner kept much of the same offering at James & Antler. The Supernova space has also been sold “to another newcomer. She’s actually opening tomorrow, so she did a bit of a soft refurb and is going to turn it into a specialty coffee shop.” The new venue will be called Fave.

In the Instagram statement, the brothers hinted that there was plenty more brewing. Tze-Huei elaborated with Broadsheet, saying he’s teamed up with a new business partner to open Fig Tree Social in Yeerongpilly in a few weeks.

The brothers are also working on developing a coffee subscription and membership program (where you can pay a weekly fee for unlimited coffee) which will be called What Coffee. The goal is to help people keep up with rising coffee costs while also sharing revenue with cafes.

The brothers also continue to own and operate Mitch & Antler in Mitchelton.