Coming Soon: Sunshine Is a Key Ingredient at Brunswick’s Beautiful Jim Key

We could all use a little more sunshine right now. Josh Murphy’s been missing it for years while working nights at his West Footscray pizzeria, Harley and Rose. And before that, cheffing for Andrew McConnell at the Builders Arms and Moon Under Water (RIP).

He’ll be basking come spring, when he opens Beautiful Jim Key with partner Priyam Chovhan. They’ve been keen to do something new since Covid and scouted sites in Moonee Ponds and Northcote before finally settling on the ground floor of their own apartment block in Brunswick, metres from Jewell Station and Iris the Bakery.

“It needed to be the right neighbourhood,” Chovhan says. “And … part of Josh wanting somewhere new to work was it had to have nice, bright light and a nice outlook.”

Mission accomplished. One of the skinny, rectangular tenancy’s long sides is nothing but north-facing windows. And they look onto pedestrian-friendly Wilson Avenue, where most of the buildings are new and architecturally schmick. The couple hopes to have 30 people seated outside, and 50 inside.

With Iris and Kohi No Deshi on the block, Beautiful Jim Key isn’t going hard on pastries and coffee. There’ll be rustic house-made goods like muffins and cakes, plus a coffee program (including beans, machines and training) run by the mavens at Fieldwork.

No, the selling point here is Murphy and his pedigree. Already, the business is giving less “cafe” and more “daytime restaurant”, even if it’ll be open from 7am. At that hour, there’ll be scrambled eggs with roasted tomato; a broccoli and pecorino toastie; and a Lyonnaise sausage sanga. Extra dishes will join from midday, with a tidy wine list made for sunny long lunches.

“Lunch is our favourite meal of the day by a mile,” Murphy says. “It’s going to be clean, fresh, uncomplicated. I think you can be interesting without adding unnecessary flourishes.”

Beautiful Jim Key will open at 7 Wilson Avenue, Brunswick in September 2025.