Suntop Plaza isn’t new. The Brunswick East sandwich, coffee and cake shop has been serving the neighbourhood since 2021. A recent refit and revamp, though, has given the space a new lease of life – the result of Joey Kellock of 1800 Lasagne joining his friend, Suntop Plaza founder Melissa Murphy, as business partner in the venue.
“She [Murphy] was doing every single thing on her own there for the last three years and got stuck in a rut,” Kellock tells Broadsheet. Murphy wanted out and asked Kellock to take over. He complied, but only on the condition that she stay and they do it together.
“She is the heart and soul of that place and has always been that … without her there, it’d just be another cafe.”
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Photography: Courtesy of Suntop Plaza
The pair gave the building a cosmetic refresh but have kept the food offering mostly the same as it was before Kellock got involved. Suntop Plaza is named for a cafe Murphy’s parents owned in a mall near Sunshine Beach in Noosa back in the 1990s. The Melbourne cafe’s signage uses the same sandy yellow and pale blue colours found on the Noosa original’s awning.
Inside, the previous grey and ochre two-tone scheme has been replaced by a burnt orange colour, inspired by summers on the Sunshine Coast. The pair have also worked on landscaping the area at the back of the cafe.
The walls, as they were in the pre-Kellock version of the cafe, are decorated with bossons. The detailed and realistic masks depict characters including a chef in a classic kitchen toque, men in bowler hats and dogs.
Photography: Courtesy of Suntop Plaza
You’ll find Murphy’s classic fruit-forward bakes like nectarine tarts, lemon brûlée cakes and sponge cakes made with panela sugar filled with baked plums and cream. Toasted sandwiches are now made using Natural Tucker rolls – “the best ciabatta around” according to Kellock – and include poached chicken and salsa verde with radish, celery and iceberg lettuce; and ham with relish and fresh vegetables. To drink, there are classic coffees, matcha lattes and cold pressed juices.
While Kellock and Murphy have known each other for years, and even once dated, Suntop Plaza is their first time formally working together. “We’ve certainly endured together,” Kellock jokes.
Suntop Plaza
241 Nicholson Street, Brunswick East
7016 1062
Hours:
Mon to Fri 7.30am–4pm
Sat & Sun 8am–4pm
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